No Ghosts Need Apply
by Cursed Detective
Summary: Ghosts don't exist. They CAN'T. But teenagers don't lose ten years of growth, either, and this pale shade in the mirror is asking for help.
1. Prelude

_This is all Gallery13's fault. Thus, this is dedicated to Gallery13._

_This is fanfiction. There. Disclaimed._

_This is supposed to be a fairly short fic, but it still will be more than one chapter. (Side-project, yes.)_

_**Prelude**_

It all started when Kid vanished after a heist.

Now, everyone knew that Kid vanishing after a heist was pretty much par for the course. Kid _always_ vanished after a heist. Nothing seemed unusual about that particular getaway and—as far as Conan had been able to tell—no snipers had shown up. It had been one of those 'response to challenge' heists, wherein Kid hadn't actually taken anything, but had instead left a mocking note in permanent pen on the inside of the bulletproof glass covering an ornately tooled scroll-case.

(This is what happened when people boasted about new security systems being Kid-proof on national television.)

The morning after that amusing little incident, Conan had gotten a call from Hakuba asking whether he had seen Kuroba Kaito.

Conan stiffened, "No," he'd answered, faking nonchalance. Hakuba had introduced the prankster-magician (whom Conan had immediately pegged as Kid) and been quite put out when Conan had feigned ignorance. Pushing back the brief flash of memory, Conan returned his focus to the phone. "Did you check his house?"

The huff on the other end of the line would have answered that even if Conan hadn't expected the other detective to have done so. He wouldn't be calling if he had anywhere left to look.

"He's not home and it looks like he hasn't been there in over a day. His mother's out of town and Jii-san has informed me that he hasn't been by the Blue Parrot, either."

The worry pooling in Conan's stomach spiked into dread. "I see. I'll let you know if I see him, Hakuba-nii."

A curt thanks was the only response before the line clicked to silence.

Conan stared at his phone for a moment, then dialed the magician's number. There was a chance Kaito (and how crazy was it that he was on given-name, no-suffix terms with Kaitou Kid's civilian persona?) had only been stranded somewhere and not answered Hakuba's calls (because Hakuba _would_ have called) because Hakuba's aid would involve giving solid evidence.

"_We're sorry, the phone you have called is out of service._"

Conan snapped his phone shut, frowning. Out of service—that meant either broken or somewhere a signal would not reach. The second was unlikely, which meant Kaito was without a phone and in trouble.

_Please, let it only be trouble._

_xxxx_

Sighing, Conan made his way to Agasa's to use the basement passage to the Kudo mansion, frustrated and anxious. There had been no sign of the magician, either as Kuroba or Kid, and Conan hoped he'd manage to wring _something_ out of his dad's files.

Once inside his own home, safe from prying eyes or ears, he dropped his 'Conan' masks. Masks, plural, because he really did have more than one. The 'little kid' one that worked way too well for his mediocre acting skills (although he was getting better at acting his apparent age without coming off as either too old or too young) and the one he managed almost flawlessly, according to the reactions of both Agasa and Haibara.

And Hattori, when he was there. Tireless, unstoppable. Fearless. He was none of those things, of course, but it helped the others (especially Haibara, so long having lived in fear) to think he was. Here, though, alone in his (dark and quiet) home, he could let it drop for a while.

Shinichi sighed, scrubbing a too-small hand over his face, and made his way past the library towards the hallway to his father's office. Well, 'office' was a polite way of putting it. It was really more a 'lair', and had creepy little props from some of Yuusaku's books-turned-movies.

He started down the hall, sock-covered feet padding on hardwood floors, then paused, glancing around.

He felt like he was being _watched._ Not the kind of watched that he got from syndicate members or the odd hired assassin after Mouri Kogoro staking out the man's 'family', but the kind he got from Hakuba or Takagi from time to time. Interest, but more burningly curious than malicious.

_Wait_.

He felt that way when Kid was pulling the stalking routine, too.

"Kaito?" he asked quietly, stilling. If Kaito hadn't yet announced his presence after nearly a twenty-four-hour absence during which his phone had been destroyed but he had managed to get into the Kudo mansion… yeah, okay, no. Shinichi wasn't sure why that would be, but most of the possibilities weren't good.

He started moving again when a flash of white caught his attention and he spun towards the wall. There, Kaito in full Kid regalia, standing and looking more distressed than Shinichi had seen, either as himself or as Conan.

In the wall-mounted mirror.

He spun a full circle, taking in the empty hallway, then returned his attention to the mirror.

Kaito, _Kid_, and from the look of it standing with his back to the opposite wall. Shinichi could see the reflection of his own child-sized body blocking off part of the image… not projected from within, and the telling lack of light-stream meant not projected from _without_, either.

It looked like a simple reflection, shadowed by the dimness of the hall as the sunset's light filtered through heavy curtains in open-doored rooms.

Kid took a step forward, standing right behind Shinichi's shoulder. A hesitant hand reached out and settled lightly on top of the shrunken detective's head.

Shinichi stiffened. He could _feel_ that! He turned his head to glance over his shoulder, mussing his own hair against the pressure of palm and fingers… Nothing. But…

He swallowed, fighting down instinctive panic. Reached out a hand.

Cloth, cool and silken, crinkling beneath his fingers.

_No._

"Kaito?" Ghosts weren't real. They _couldn't_ be—but teens couldn't revert to grade-schoolers, either. Beyond all else, though, Shinichi didn't want Kaito to be _dead_.

The hand on top of his head lifted slightly, one finger tapping while a second hand nudged his shoulder, urging him to turn back to the mirror.

He didn't resist the silent instruction, because if he was looking at the mirror he could _see_.

The hands lifted away, and if he hadn't been able to watch the motion of them as they lifted the blue-banded white top hat away from messy dark hair, he might have panicked. White-gloved hands flipped the hat upside-down, then one removed the clover-charmed monocle and dropped it into formed silk, leaving Kaito's face—and expression—clear against the mirror's silvered surface.

He looked… _relieved_, edges of fear softening into something more hopeful.

Still not a word from his (invisible) companion, and that was unnerving. Shinichi swallowed, "Kaito… what happened?"

A grimace shown only in reflective glass. Lips moving, slow and silent. Shinichi was glad of his lip-reading ability, because as much of an imprecise practice as it was, with Kid's skills the meaning was very straightforward. '_Denied existence; unseen, unheard._'

_Dead_. Not that Shinichi hadn't been able to see it already, but the confirmation was enough to have him closing his eyes for a long moment. "How?"

'_Angry mahou._'

Mahou, magic, as in mystical power and not the stage magic Kaito himself used. A riddle?

"Who did this to you and why?" because for Kaito to be here, now, as a ghost seen only by reflection… Shinichi could not deny him. The murdered should always have their killers named, and this was _Kaito._

'_The Red Sorceress, a natural enemy._'

More riddles, and perhaps he _couldn't_ state clearly. The living and the dead were not supposed to interact and legends often spoke of riddling hints.

"Where?"

'_Hidden._'

Well. That was… not terribly helpful. No crime scene (no body), no evidence, no case. Sooner or later Kuroba Kaito would be reported missing, and maybe Hakuba would help Conan look (Hattori would, if called), but without even knowing where to start…

"Why?"

'_Answered once._'

"No, why here? Why me?"

'_Nowhere else, no _one_ else. You _know_ me._'

Shinichi closed his eyes, calling up the unstoppable part of his Conan persona. "I'll find a way to settle this." Not fix. Death couldn't be _fixed._ In the end, he caught the murderers for the _victims._ He'd just never thought he'd see one linger after. Silent though it was, Kid's very presence was a plea and he _would not_ turn him aside.

_xxxx_

_And so it is laid out in beginning. As for the rest, you will see._


	2. Chapter 1

_._

**_Chapter 1_**

Kaito had never been more terrified in his life than when he realized Jii did not see or hear him when he landed at their appointed meeting place. It wouldn't have been that big a deal (he'd snuck up on Jii more than once, after all), but he'd landed in front of the man and when he reached out a hand, he'd realized he could see through it.

A tentative poke at the older man's shoulder (what if his hand went _through?_) had left Jii confused and jumpy, but garnered no recognition. An hour later, Jii called Kaito's phone—which had been left as a smoking ruin in a dumpster kilometers away—and started to get more than just worried.

Kaito didn't know what to do. He _felt_ normal—well, normal-ish, except his attempts at talking had ended without sound and Jii hadn't even noticed. Watching Jii pace before his car in growing anxiety was turning into a kind of torture.

Kaito shivered. His latest rooftop encounter with Akako had involved some line about not being meant to be seen or heard, a flare of red light, and a brief blaze of agony.

Kaito wondered if he'd died.

_Wait,_ he told himself, forcing back fear, **_Think._**

Akako's spell had incorporated at least three languages that he didn't know, but the majority of it had been understandable enough, if fractured through another half-dozen possible origins with the base grammar cobbled directly from Japanese. The exact specifics were beyond him, but her parting comment as his consciousness had wavered back towards proper awareness had implied that he _wasn't_ dead.

If not dead, though, what _was_ he?

Not that it mattered. Even Akako hadn't been able to see him after whatever she'd done. Jii hadn't seen, but he'd _felt_ it when Kaito had touched him. But… if he tried to find a way to explain or started leaving notes or writing on foggy windows around the older man, he'd end up driving his surrogate uncle into an early grave out of horror and guilt, no matter what he said. Anything he did would come off as haunting—might _be_ haunting, even.

Hakuba? No, Hakuba would probably panic himself into moving back to London, and Aoko would _freak_. So would the elder Nakamori, at that, and Akako had put him into this position to begin with.

That left Tantei-kun (also known as Conan or Shinichi, depending on other company).

The Agency was probably a bad idea. That only left the Kudo mansion, which—was actually probably a _great_ place to hide out, as neighborhood gossip had already started to label it a haunted house. Although he'd have to figure out something for the doves, wouldn't he? And… well, he'd made a lock for the mechanism that allowed entry into the Kid workshop.

Cleanup first. He slipped into his own home as though entering a heist building, ghosting through and removing anything that could be used as evidence (even circumstantial) towards him being International Criminal 1412 and sequestering it safely in the workshop before locking the painting in place and setting up the 'week vacation' style food and water dispensers (making sure to have just enough space at the tops to make it look like he hadn't come back and crumbling some seed-husks below the feeder) and carefully securing all the cage doors open so his doves would be free to roam the aviary and get out through the custom-made dove chute if they wanted to.

He left his room in its usual mild disarray, a bit of fan-style Kid paraphernalia (which, yes, he actually did like—more for the amusing irony and mockable inaccuracies than narcissism, _thank you_) scattered about with his (finished) homework tucked with his books into his schoolbag on the desk.

In the kitchen, he wrote himself a shopping list, pressing the pen down just hard enough to indicate the heavy-handed carelessness he used at school. He tore off the list, leaving the faint impressions on the page beneath for whoever ended up searching the house to find.

Everything else he left as it was, all of it pointing to him having left on an errand (which he had) and simply never having come back.

It was only when he made his way to the train station that things really started to hit. No one could see him.

He choked on what should have been a hysterical sob but for its silence, and not even the woman moving tiredly across the platform (not even two meters away) glanced in his direction.

Unseen and unheard.

_Please_,_ let Shinichi be able to understand. __**Please.**_

_xxxx_

Hours passed as Kaito paced empty halls, frustrated and edgy. Hungry, too, but the thought of going out to get something (even from his own home) was terrifying. To be unseen while _alone_ was one thing, but unseen while in the crowds he could usually command so easily was _terrifying_. Even without that, being invisible but _solid_ was dangerous.

Footsteps, not his own. Of _course_ not his own, he couldn't hear his own footsteps no matter how loud he tried to be. Not his footsteps, not the swish of his cloak, not his own voice when he panicked and tried to yell, to _scream._

There. Tantei-kun, Conan—and something shifted, something invisible fell away. Tantei-kun's shoulders slumped and he let out a heavy sigh, rubbing a hand over his face and casting a tired glance around him. His eyes didn't pause at Kid-white.

Not even _Tantei-kun_ could see him.

Kaito tried not to drown in his own despair and found something to focus on in Tantei-kun's—no. _Shinichi's_ visible exhaustion, Shinichi's worry, and he trailed after the too-small teen as he made his way past the library and down the hall.

Shinichi paused.

Kaito didn't believe it when Shinichi called his name in a low, worried tone, didn't respond. _Couldn't_ respond, was the bitter knowledge—nothing he did made any sound at all.

After a moment, Shinichi started walking again and Kaito moved closer, hoping that somehow the miniature meitantei would realize he was there.

When Shinichi startled and spun towards a mirror on the opposite wall—prompting Kaito to turn in the same direction, attention focused on the other boy—before turning a full circle and ending with his eyes fixed on the mirror again, Kaito's heart stuttered. Could—could Shinichi _see_ him in that?

Kaito raised his own eyes to the reflective glass and realized that he could see himself in it, and not in that barely-there ghostlike manner that he could see his body. He looked as solid and real as he ever had.

His eyes met Shinichi's reflected gaze and he took a hesitant step forward.

Shinichi's gaze followed the movement and Kaito felt faint with the force of his relief, setting a hand carefully on top of Shinichi's head, able to see smooshed-down hair through the translucence of his own palm.

The boy tensed, turned, and scanned at where Kaito stood without seeing.

Only the mirror, then… Would anyone be able to see him so reflected, or was Shinichi somehow special?

A small hand fisted in the cloth of his pant-leg and Shinichi's breath hitched. "Kaito?"

Kaito swallowed at the tremor in the usually confident voice and tapped a finger on the detective's head, nudging him back towards the mirror with his free hand. He wanted to be _seen_ again.

"Kaito… what happened?"

He pulled off the hat and monocle, not wanting to be Kid at such a moment, and opened his mouth to tell Shinichi everything, to explain what Akako had done and use his ever-perfect memory to find the rest of the spell and devise a way to break it—and the only words he could get his lips to form were short and cryptic.

_Damn you, Akako,_ he thought viciously. He couldn't even explain properly! It wasn't too hard to see where Tantei-kun's mind was going (death dogged his footsteps like a tracking hound), but he couldn't even say he _wasn't_ dead.

At least, he didn't think he was. He was hungry, and ghosts didn't get hungry, right? Not that he knew anyone who'd actually know. And food was often used as offerings to the dead… he didn't want to be dead.

There _had_ to be some way to figure this out, whatever 'this' was, exactly.

Another look at Shinichi convinced him that it was best for 'this' to wait, though, and it was late enough that he was willing to hazard a supply-trip if he could just get the visibly exhausted Shinichi to rest. Unable to explain, he simply reached down and scooped the smaller male up into an easy baby-carry (because 'bridal' didn't count when they were that _small_).

Tantei-kun in tow, he made his way up the stairs to the room he'd already figured out was Shinichi's, using a careful flick of wrist and magician's wire, he swept the dust-cover to the floor and yanked the covers down far enough to drop the detective into bed.

Shinichi started to sit, opening his mouth to protest, and Kaito silenced him with a finger to his lips, pressing him back to the mattress with gentle hands and tugging the blanket up to cover him and tapped Morse Code on his forehead, hoping Shinichi knew it. He knew the little Tantei spoke English.

**s**-**l**-**e**-**e**-**p**

Shinichi stilled and let out a sigh. "All right. I'm looking into this in the morning, though."

Kaito huffed, ruffling his fingers through perpetually neat hair in an attempt to convey thanks.

Shinichi sighed again, closing his eyes.

Kaito watched carefully until he was sure that the detective wasn't faking (which took over half an hour), and slipped out of the house. He had errands to run.

_xxxx_

Gliding in the city was _awesome…_ and a lot less likely to get him hit by some random car on the busier streets than walking.

Another shift and he slid sideways in the air, breathing freedom. Sneaky as he was, he'd rung up his own purchases at a convenience store (hey, he didn't steal anything with malicious intent!) while the only person working the store in the early morning hours had been taking the trash out back.

He'd only realized how long he and Tantei-kun had bumbled through too-cryptic conversation after he'd dumped his too-small friend/rival into bed. And 'too-cryptic' was true, when Tantei-kun's eyes had been on him in that mirror he'd found himself talking like a heist note. Very frustrating when he wanted to get his point across _quickly_.

Another shift as Beika Park passed beneath him and he looped once above trees and grass. So quiet, this night… it was unusual for him to be out in the sky in his Kid uniform without having police sirens screaming at him at least once.

But no, they couldn't see him, could they? No one would acknowledge him at all like this.

He tried to shove that thought back, bury it—but there was truth there. Only… maybe not quite _no one._

He growled—silent, always silent, now—and arched off towards the Kudo mansion, landing carefully on the roof (just because he didn't make impact sound didn't mean he couldn't shatter the carton of eggs he had in the bag with a bad landing) and flipped himself lightly down to Shinichi's windowsill with one hand on an eave.

He slipped into the room, mildly surprised that he heard the smooth slide of the window against the frame as he lifted it. So. It was only _him_ directly effected, if the window still made sound. He hadn't heard his own footsteps since the night before, but… he tapped on glass.

The tapping itself was silent, but the low thrum of glass vibrating against the window-frame was audible.

Oh, thank whatever kami was looking out for him. He could still get _indirect_ sound. And… well, it wasn't like he _needed_ to be visible for all his tricks. He could probably work out some way to communicate with Tantei-kun. And he could keep looking for Pandora, could still find and destroy the damn thing.

His musings were abruptly cut off when he saw the glint of Conan's eyes against the gloom, a frown crossing the child-sized face.

_Oops._ Now, how to make it clear what had happened to wake him without giving him a heart attack?

A little condensation on the window, and okay, he felt like a horror movie reject as he used the tip of one gloved finger to trace a '_sorry'_ character on the glass.

A blink. "Kaito?"

'_Tantei-kun_' he returned, pausing momentarily and adding '_didn't mean to wake you_'. Huh. Lacking forced riddling in writing so far.

Tantei-kun sat up, scrubbing a hand over his eyes. "You need something?"

'_No'_, Kaito informed him, then decided that some sort of explanation was probably warranted anyway, considering he was pretty sure Shinichi thought Kaito was haunting him. Well, he kind of _was,_ except for the whole 'maybe not dead' thing. '_Didn't want to be alone_'.

Tantei-kun's eyes closed and a pained expression crossed his face. "Then stay," he said after a long moment of silence.

Kaito's own breath stuttered at that. Here was _Kudo Shinichi_, who had long denied the existence of anything science could not prove, inviting a ghost to haunt him. (It didn't matter that Kaito didn't quite believe he was a ghost, because Tantei-kun obviously did.) He turned back to the window, breathing out to fog higher glass, and traced a single character in the resulting whitish haze. '_Sleep_'.

A slow breath, "Okay. What about you? Do you need rest?"

Hm. Yeah, he'd been awake for _way_ too long, and aside from the sandwich he'd snagged from the convenience store, he hadn't had anything to eat, either. He'd had water, of course, the Kudo mansion's power and water were kept in working order with occasional cleaning and maintenance done by Agasa-hakase or Mouri Ran (and Conan).

But he still had groceries that needed refrigeration. So… '_Wait here. Checking house_'.

He glanced back to see Tantei-kun eying the door as it (to Shinichi's eyes anyway) opened itself, but the detective didn't move to get up.

A quick trip to the kitchen, groceries neatly stored away, and Kaito circuited the house. Better safe than sorry, and Shinichi _was_ in hiding. Maybe Kaito didn't know who or what from, but Conan was obviously a disguise and probably not a planned one.

He re-entered Shinichi's room, Conan's eyes flicking towards the opening door before he shook his head slightly, frowning. Kaito moved over to trace '_clear_' on the cold windowpane and made his way to the bed. He didn't see a whole bunch of options, and seven-year-olds didn't take up a lot of space even when they were normal sized. Conan really was closer to five-year-old size, but if he had trouble pulling off a believable 'genius seven-year-old', he'd never have managed to pass himself off as younger.

Kaito sat on the end of the bed, debating how to manage this, and (to his surprise) Tantei-kun shifted to make more space. He took the silent offer and arraigned himself along the side of the bed, using his own cape in lieu of a blanket. He really did need the sleep.

Maybe things would be better in the morning.

_xxxx_


	3. Chapter 2

_._

_**Chapter 2**_

Conan woke slowly, blinking sleep-fogged vision clear as he looked around his room. _His_ room, not Kogoro's, and he deliberately dropped a mask that he'd worn so long that he called on it even in _sleep_. Kind of a depressing prospect.

He sighed, rolling upright with his feet dangling off the edge of the bed, trying to wrangle order from his exhaustion-jumbled thoughts.

_Kaito!_

He bolted to his feet, scanning the room—he knew the difference between dreams (nightmares) and reality, and last night had been _real._ Terribly, terrifyingly real. Was he gone? Had the morning light dispersed Kaito back into some untouchable realm like so many legends claimed it ought?

_Please, no._ Because even if Kaito was haunting him, it was better than him being _gone_. Dead was bad enough (horrifying, heartbreaking; they'd been parts of each others' lives for years even before they'd properly met), but gone entirely was… _Gods, please, no. Not him._

Not that he'd be able to tell by sight, but he'd felt the (warm) weight settle on the mattress between him and the wall, and it had been gone when he'd woken. There was no convenient condensation left on the windows and writing in the dust was probably a bad idea.

_Wait._ Shinichi tilted his head slightly, sniffing the air. _Coffee?_

Coffee, from downstairs—his mother or both his parents could have pulled another unannounced visit, but he _wanted_ it to be Kaito.

Hesitantly hopeful, Shinichi made his way down to the kitchen.

Well. Not his parents. "Kaito?"

An empty cookie tray thrummed against the counter and a coffee mug removed itself from the drain-board, glistening damply as drops of water wicked away onto invisible fingers. The carafe removed itself from the coffee maker and tilted steaming dark liquid into the mug, then the carafe returned to its rightful place and the mug presented its handle to him.

He couldn't see them, but he felt fingers brush against his as he accepted the beverage, cool compared to the heat radiating from the ceramic but feeling as warm and alive as Kaito ever had. "Thanks."

Morse Code tapped out '_welcome'_ on his shoulder.

Shinichi hummed, fighting back the urge to either rage or cry, and sat himself at the counter. He didn't want Kaito to see him cry, hear him scream—Kaito was here for a reason, but the lack of focus on vengeance said Kaito's ever-caring personality had not changed with… whatever had happened. Carrying him to bed, telling him to sleep, checking to make sure he was safe—Kaito was, for whatever reason, looking out for him.

It could break Kaito to see Shinichi break over it.

He startled as a pad of paper slid in front of him, Kaito's neater 'Kid' handwriting stark against white.

'_As long as I don't try to say anything about what happened, I don't end up writing everything like a heist note. Something won't let me communicate clearly about the night before last, and I can't make sound. If I move something against something else, the objects can still make noise, but nothing I do or try to say is in any way audible._

_I already know you can't see me. _I_ can barely see me. Mirrors seem to, but not other reflective surfaces. Anyway, Tantei-kun, I need a way to communicate with you when passing notes would be too obvious.'_

Shinichi frowned, thinking. "Hang on. I'll be right back."

The pad tugged away from him and tapped against the counter once. As there was no attempt at restraint, Shinichi took that as an 'okay' and hopped down from the chair to head back upstairs. Less than five minutes later, he made his way back into the kitchen with two cell-phones and a grey-backed cosmetics mirror... and paused in bemusement.

"Are you—making breakfast?"

A spatula waved at him.

Well, that was… another point in the 'Kid looking out for Tantei-kun' column. He opened the small mirror and tilted it towards the active stove, then huffed out a relieved breath. Kid indeed, back in full regalia, reflected in the tiny round mirror. Cooking.

Kind of a strange image, actually, even without the 'only visible in the mirror' part, and if he weren't trying so hard to stay calm he'd laugh. Right now, though, he was pretty sure if he laughed, he'd end up crying, and that wasn't exactly on the top of his list of things to do this morning, no matter how surreal a morning it was.

Gods , what was he going to tell Hakuba? The Nakamoris? _Jii_ and_ Chikage?_

The pad of paper smacked him lightly over the head and he blinked, jerking his gaze upward towards—blank space between a plate and the paper-pad, both being set on the counter. The plate pointedly slid in front of him while the pad settled at his elbow.

"This is…" Shinichi shook his head, "Disconcerting, I guess. I don't like not being able to see or hear you." Hated that Kaito was—_had been_—murdered. It had to have been murder, because there had been a cryptic answer to 'who', and the only relief was _'not gone_'.

The pad wiggled, new writing appearing on it without a visible writing implement.

_I don't like it, either. I can't_

A slight pause, and a line drew through the fragment of a sentence-start. _I don't _want_ to go anywhere else. Can you imagine if I started following Hakuba like this? He'd check himself into the nearest psyche-ward!_

And any of the others would react even worse.

_Also, eat your breakfast._

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow at the incongruous sentence. "Are you seriously mothering me _now?_"

_Scrambled eggs get all gross when they're cold. I didn't cook that so you could ruin it before it even gets eaten._ One of three pieces of toast whisked off the plate.

Okay, fine. Shinichi huffed and plucked the chopsticks up to take a bite, humoring his invisible companion. The toast waved at him and he swallowed to ask the first thing that popped into his head. "Can you even eat like that?"

A bite defiantly disappeared from the corner of the piece of toast in lieu of a written reply.

"Right." Food and drink were offered to the dead by cultures all over the world. The widespread custom had to come from _something_, after all.

The bitten corner of the toast pointed back at the admonition to eat.

Shinichi huffed and obeyed, watching out of the corner of his eye as the toast disappeared one bite at a time before a second piece lifted off his plate. Several minutes later, Shinichi sat back, "So, you're—invisible and essentially inaudible, but solid. Also, I'm pretty sure you at least have a pen, considering the fact that you've been writing in ink this morning and were using a finger to write on the window last night."

_Ooooh,_ traced onto the paper. _Very nice, Tantei-kun. What else have you deduced?_

And there was Kid, still as snarky as ever. That was a comfort, if a small one, and Shinichi allowed himself to roll his eyes as he would have if it had been sniped aloud. He continued his former thought, not directly replying to the question. "So, I'm going to assume you can somehow get things you have on your person to go invisible as well."

_Only if I pocket them,_ Kaito wrote back, no longer snarking. Of course he could see that Shinichi was heading somewhere with this.

"You can hack, right? Make phone signals untraceable?"

_Kaitou Kid, here. You _have_ met me, right?_

"Okay. Here," Shinichi held out his phone—_his_ phone, not the one he'd gotten to use as Conan, but the one that held one of his few links to his former life. "I've already programmed my information into it—wait. You _can_ see yourself, right?"

_I'm see-through, but visible. I look kind of like a reflection in a window, really—a little dull and not all there. I don't like it._

Shinichi rubbed his forehead, sighing quietly. "I'm sorry. But it's the only thing I can think of—I have one of Kaa-san's compact mirrors I can use if you get my attention and you know Morse Code. If you get that to be untraceable, you can text me. It's set to vibrate."

_Not your fault,_ Kaito returned, _You're handling this better than… well. Than I would if our positions were reversed._

"Go ahead and start working on this," Shinichi waved the phone in the direction that Kaito had been in last time he'd been holding something visible. A familiar suede glove brushed against his fingers as the Kaitou (gods, that wasn't supposed to be _literal_) lifted the object away. "I'll do the dishes." He hopped down from the counter and made his way over to the footstool.

An instant after he'd climbed onto the stool and turned on the tap, a stray paper airplane landed neatly beside the sink. It fell open on its own, a courtesy notice blatantly visible inside.

_I will follow you to the place where young minds grow and older minds wither._

Shinichi shook his head, "You know, I'm not entirely sure whether or not that was intentional, but that has got to be the weirdest way of saying 'I'm heading to kiddie school with you today' that I've ever seen."

_xxxx_

Conan (out of the Kudo mansion, back in the layered masks) hadn't even entertained the thought as to telling Kaito 'no' on following him to school. The idea of leaving him behind, alone after whatever had happened… it was abhorrent to the point that his mind shied away from even a passing glimmer.

That he didn't know what had happened beyond the effect—that rankled. He'd never taken more than a few hours on even the most obscure of the individual cases he'd worked on, some of which he'd had to piece together from latent _photographs_—but he didn't even know where to _start_ with Kaito.

He closed his eyes tightly, brow furrowing. He'd tuned out the lessons almost as soon as they'd started, puzzling circles around what to do with almost nothing to go on. He'd worked with as little before, but not with a victim still _watching_.

He barely heard Ayumi ask what was wrong and startled when a hand rested on his forehead—not Haibara, too large, and the pervading unease that had him flinching back meant not Kaito, either. His eyes snapped open to meet Kobayashi-sensei's worried frown.

"Are you all right, Conan-kun? Do you need to see the nurse?"

He considered the question. 'All right'? _No._ Nurse?

Well. He hadn't really noticed the headache through his deliberate avoidance of dwelling on what everything _meant,_ not just what it was. Bare, cold facts were easy enough to deal with, and it was rare that he had to deal with cases that hit him on a personal level. (Literal) passing acquaintances often became victims in murders around him, but people he was _close_ to…

A sharp poke between the shoulder-blades reminded him that this particular victim wasn't planning on leaving him behind no matter what reality had to say about it. Typical Kaito(u), Kid or otherwise.

Conan jerked away as Kobayashi shook his shoulder gently, breaking her grasp. The sudden movement made him realize just how bad the headache had gotten and he winced, eyes snapping shut as he pressed one hand to his temple. "Hurts," he muttered.

Ayumi's voice cut under the sudden babble of children's voices, worry underscoring her tone. "Conan-kun hasn't said that before."

"He just told me to move faster that time in the cave when I thought I'd hurt him more," Genta added, sounding just as concerned.

"Ano… wasn't that when Conan-kun had been shot?"

Apparently Conan wasn't the only one who was able to hear that particular conversation, because Kobayashi tensed, "Conan-kun? I'm taking you to the nurse, all right?"

His first instinct was to shy back, his thoughts scattering away with a spike of pain that informed him that this was a _migraine_, not a headache_,_ and he wasn't going to be doing anything for the day if he didn't want to knock himself unconscious for the next three. A gloved palm pressed firmly against his back, calming him. The pattern tapped out by fingers was familiar, but he couldn't quite untangle the meaning.

Kid was here, and Kid was one of the few people he'd trusted completely even before he'd learned his name. He could deal with Kobayashi so long as Kid was still watching out for him. How hadn't the woman noticed the presence of a white-clad international criminal?

No. No, that was what had stressed him to this point, wasn't it? Kid was there and _real,_ but he wasn't—wasn't—

White flashed behind his eyes as unfamiliar arms scooped him out of his seat, the change in position sparking nerves in ways they really weren't supposed to work.

Soothing fingers carded through his hair, glove gone, and Conan wondered vaguely how the first-grade teacher didn't notice the way his hair was ruffling in response to the contact. The brief tightening of said teacher's arms informed him that she _had_ noticed, and he half-expected Kaito to stop, but the magician (ghost) didn't.

Conan heard Kobayashi's throat click as she swallowed, meaning her mouth had gone dry. Fear, probably, as he'd heard rumors (started by Megure, of all people) that Kogoro had a Shinigami following him.

The smarter officers had tracked the beginning of the 'stumble on every murder' streak to Conan's moving into the Agency and further realized that Conan was party to even more murders than Kogoro. Obviously, Kobayashi had heard some of those rumors, and Kaito had just granted that story enough figurative fuel to run the rumor mill for _weeks_.

His consciousness wavered. Right. Being carried. Movement + migraine + _thinking_ = shutdown, especially in this tiny body with only a child's endurance, nevermind that he wasn't on his own feet.

He couldn't _ stop_ thinking.

Kobayashi slipped, stumbling forward several steps in an attempt to recover without dropping him, and everything blinked out as something (Kaito) braced her.

Pain hammered him into unconsciousness.

_xxxx_


	4. Chapter 3

_._

_**Chapter 3**_

Kaito let out a shaky breath, silent and unnoticed. Realizing Jii was unable to see or hear him had just been relegated to the _second_ most terrifying thing he'd experienced to date. Watching Tantei-kun jerk and go utterly limp had ranked into first.

As pale as the too-small teen had been, he'd looked _dead_. Kaito was pretty sure the lady who taught Conan's class was traumatized, but he couldn't bring himself to care that she'd been mostly scared of _him._ He'd been more concerned with making sure Shinichi was breathing than catering to modern views on the existence of the supernatural, and he didn't—_wouldn't_—regret it.

He glanced back at the hospital bed where Shinichi's already small form looked tiny and frail, an IV with a heavy dose of painkillers and a standard saline drip making him seem worse off than the doctors seemed to think he was.

'_Migraine,_' they'd said, oblivious to his presence as they called the Agency to let Mouri know what was going on. '_Stress-related_', had been mixed in with doctor-speak, as had '_collapse_' and '_exhaustion_'_._

Shinichi had shown it for a while the night before, and shown it again—a little—that morning. Kaito was afraid he'd been a factor in the collapse, though, because people didn't go from 'tired-but-okay' to 'passing-out-in-pain' that quickly unless something happened.

… and Shinichi couldn't be taking the whole 'ghost' thing as well as he seemed to be.

Kaito bit his lip and slid into a visitor's chair, tugging the hat and monocle off to rub his hands over his face and staring down through his feet to the wear-patterns in the floor. His feet seemed even more faded out than the rest of him to his eyes, and he idly thought that should worry him*, but he had other things on his mind.

Should he leave? Was his presence causing Shinichi more stress than he should be dealing with? What if he _did_ leave? How would Shinichi take his sudden disappearance? Where would he go?

A muffled groan jerked him out of spiraling questions and he sat up straighter, reaching out towards the bed before aborting the motion. Shinichi didn't need to be reminded of the Kaitou right now.

He sat back instead, watching worriedly as Shinichi turned his head, eyes flicking over the room in restless jerks.

"Kai-" Shinichi broke off with a dry cough, moving to push himself upright.

Ah, _no._ Kaito leaned forward and stilled the detective with a gentle hand on his chest, reaching to the side for the glass of water that had been left for 'Conan-kun' on the small table beside the bed.

Shinichi relaxed back, letting out a breath. "You're here," he observed.

Kaito aborted his reach for the glass to press Conan's phone (lifted from the miniature meitantei before the nurse could take it) into Shinichi's hand and pulled his own away. The phone abruptly blinked from see-through to opaque, and Shinichi squinted at the screen.

After a moment, he sighed, dropping the phone to the bed. "Sorry. I can't focus my eyes enough to read."

Kaito frowned and took the phone back, pocketing it into his realm of silent transparency, then reached over to tap a simple **o-k** in Morse Code on Shinichi's arm.

"I should have just had Agasa call me in sick to school," Shinichi groaned, rubbing at his throat with one hand and his eyes with the other.

Kaito nudged the water-glass, drawing Shinichi's attention to it.

"Please," he started to sit again and this time Kaito helped ease him up and held the glass for him to drink out of.

Shinichi closed his eyes, sipping at the offered water, and three seconds later something clattered to the floor behind Kaito, a female voice yelping sharply.

Shinichi jerked, eyes snapping open and looking straight through Kaito to the open door.

Kaito barely managed to keep from pouring water all over the detective as he twisted, glass in-hand and forgotten as he saw a disbelieving Mouri, a terrified Mouri-chan, and a shocked doctor at the door.

_Oops._

_xxxx_

"It's not—no, I don't need a priest," Tantei-kun pressed his fingers to his temples, "Ran-neechan…"

"Conan-kun, that wasn't _natural!_ Something was here!"

Conan took a deep breath, clearly counting to something a lot higher than ten, and the pain evident around the edges of his eyes was a deciding factor.

Kaito scrolled down to Mouri Ran's contact in Shinichi's (now untraceable and number-blocked) phone and sent an irritated text.

Mouri-chan jumped when her phone beeped and pulled it out, then went very still.

"Ran, what is it?" Mouri may have been an idiot on many levels, but no one could accuse him of not caring for his daughter.

"Ran?" Mouri reached out to take the phone from her and immediately focused on the text.

'You are distressing my charge.' Simple and to the point; Kaito had taken care to word it as a guardian might. If he was going to be a haunting ghost, he wasn't going to hide it from Mouri-chan for long, paranoid as she was about anything supernatural.

A second beep as another text appeared and Mouri opened it, frowning.

'Not all those who walk beyond are hostile. The little tantei has friends in many places.'

"Who are you? How are you doing this?"

Kaito considered. He didn't want to make them think he was some kind of deranged stalker or criminal seeking revenge. He didn't want to convince them he was a ghost, either, but that was probably the better option for Tantei-kun's freedom. (The same Tantei-kun who was falling asleep under lack of immediate questioning added to painkillers. Kaito's reasoning had just been validated.)

He reached out and plucked Mouri-chan's phone from her father's hands, making sure they could see as he opened a new text screen and wrote out his next comment. 'A guardian. The little meitantei has come to be my charge.'

Mouri-chan swallowed and spoke up, voice quavering just a little. "What's your name?"

'I cannot grant you my name. I was a Kaitou, once, though not for greed. I did not find what I sought, but the title suits even now.' He held the phone out to her, and was pleased when she reached to take it, hesitating as her fingers brushed over suede.

Kaito sent another text, intending it to be the last to the Mouris, at least for now. 'I will watch over him as long as I am able.'

Mouri cleared his throat after his daughter read that aloud. "Why?"

Once more, then, his gaze flicking over to the dozing mini-teen. A truth, of sorts, in spirit if not blood: 'For family.'

_xxxx_

_*Japanese lore generally holds that ghosts do not have feet._


	5. Chapter 4

.

**_Chapter 4_**

Conan blinked up at the white ceiling for the second time in as many hours, surprised at both how much better he felt (aside from feeling a bit hazy, which was probably whatever they'd given him) and how much _quieter_ it was than when he'd dozed off. The Mouris weren't there, then, or at least not in the room.

The lack of beeping machines indicated a continuing relative health, as hospitals tended to like hooking up various monitors whenever there was even the faintest chance of serious trouble. The IV was expected, if irritating, and had been there the first time. Still, there was the usual low-grade hospital noise from the other side of the (closed) door, which at least meant he hadn't been kidnapped and placed in a similar location.

The fact that the thought even crossed his mind really said something about the state of his mental health and stress-levels, Conan thought wryly, but something else was bothering him a bit more. "You still here?" he asked the room.

Invisible fingers ruffled his hair (which fell back into place almost immediately afterwards in defiance of a lack of order) and his 'Conan' phone was pressed into his hand, appearing in the visible world with a startling suddenness as the greater pressure eased into the light press of the cell-phone's weight, a new message blinking up at him.

The light was glaring and he winced against the sting, squinting against the brightness as his pupils failed to adjust at their normal speed.

Right. Migraine. That was _why_ he was in the hospital. The message was probably important, though, so he waited until he could make out the kanji on the screen despite the discomfort, and felt a well of relieved affection at the words. 'Not leaving you.'

But what about... "You... basically told Ran and her dad, right?"

A pause, then his phone buzzed briefly. Conan squinted down at the incoming message—confirmation of his suspicion—and rubbed his forehead. "How did they take it?"

'Better than I expected' was encouraging, but vague.

"... should I ask?"

'Well, I don't think they'll go calling an exorcist. I called you family.'

That might be the only thing to get Ran to curb her fear enough to listen and it was... "True enough," Conan murmured, "but I don't have... background. I could probably... tell them something, give them enough to believe me and just let them... draw their own conclusions, I guess."

Fingers squeezed his shoulder gently, supportive. Kaito knew what it was like to lie to people you cared about, too, after all. The only written message was simple and somehow conveyed that understanding better than any declaration could have. 'I'll listen.'

Conan nodded. He hated twisting the truth like that (propagating lies without actually speaking them was no different than lying outright, as far as he was concerned), but there were times (too many times in his life these days) where it was necessary. If there was to be even a degree of safety in his life, the lie was his only way to shield them. High-profile 'targets' did actually get assessed for threat-level before the Org took them out, after all.

_xxxx_

Two hours later, he was 'home'. The Mouris, that is, Conan's home (not Shinichi's. Never Shinichi's) and Ran kept glancing around nervously.

Conan sighed and gloved fingers brushed against his arm, assuring of Kaito's presence. Tension he hadn't noticed building eased out of his shoulders, and _why_ was he so anxious for that presence? Why was the thought of Kaito _not_ being there so unnerving?

"Conan-kun?" Ran asked after the silence had dragged on a few minutes, causing the boy to start a bit.

He hesitated on glancing at her expression. "... Hai?"

She swallowed and glanced round the room, "Do you know who...?"

Conan closed his eyes, "Nii-san." He didn't have to fake the pain in tone and expression. Whatever had happened, whatever had been _done_—Conan didn't even know where to start, but the whole thing was _wrong._ Kaito's presence should have been announced with fanfare and white come evening and ridiculous declarations and colorful smoke during the days. It was part of who Kaito _was._ This silent, invisible specter was equal parts unnerving and heartbreaking.

And the 'Nii-san' _was_ true enough. Kaito was a year older than him, and their respective fathers were each other's godfathers, according to Jii-san and Kudo Yukiko. If Toichi had lived, they would likely have been raised more-or-less alongside each other, like close cousins.

Ran blinked, going a little pale as she frowned shakily. "I didn't know you had a brother," she half-asked.

Conan looked aside, considering how to word this. "Conan... it's not my name. Not really."

Ran's gaze sharpened. She'd suspected him of being Shinichi before, but she _knew_ Shinichi didn't have a brother, so obviously her mind was trying very hard to come up with something for that. Her father pushed himself upright at the desk, no longer feigning disinterest. "What?" he demanded, voice low and hard.

Ah. The lie could hurt Ran, and Kogoro took threats to his family seriously. A serious Mouri Kogoro was like an entirely different person, neither idiotic nor rash. (The man actually had the makings of a good detective, if he'd just stop being lazy and use the brainpower he obviously had for something other than gambling.)

"I've used it enough that it's... easy to answer to," Conan stated haltingly, "My family... brother was always the best at finding things out. Keeping us ahead of _Them._ But... _they_ were... it wasn't safe for me to stay with Kaa-san and Tou-san anymore. Agasa-hakase knows a little, and the Kudos have helped before—we really _are_ related." Conan shrugged, "They made the new paperwork for 'Edogawa' Conan."

The angry suspicion faded and Kogoro sat back, frowning. "That's why they never visit. Why it's always just an untraceable wire transfer."

Conan nodded, shoulders slumped. "I can't tell you my real name," he admitted, "... or even if I've ever used it. It's easy to answer to Conan, though, so it's my name, now." All true, but highly misleading.

Ran was starting to look a bit teary, "Do you know your real name?"

Conan looked down, grimacing at the question.

"... oh," Ran said, suddenly a lot quieter.

Conan glanced up again, "I'm smart, though," he informed, "and I'm not always good at hiding it. I try, because I've seen some of _Them_ in Tokyo, sometimes. I know they're still looking for—but they didn't pay attention to me as a person. Just—as long as they think they killed me, I'm safe. But if I was with Kaa-san and Tou-san, they would realize that their poison didn't work the way they wanted it to. But they still like to get the smart kids. If they get them young enough, it's easy to make them loyal. There's a lot of _Them._ They don't get caught... and they don't like that my family was trying to get evidence."

Another gentle brush of fingers reminded him of his purpose with the conversation and Conan closed his eyes again, quietly pained. "I don't know what happened. I never thought _anyone_ could catch Nii-san. He can't... tell me. He tried, but something stopped him, and he's... _worried_."

Ran was definitely tearing up. "Oh, but... what's his name?"

Conan winced, closing his eyes for a moment. "I called him Kai*, sometimes," his voice hitched, not really faked. "Nothing could hold him."

Fingers ruffled through his hair, a cross between supportive and approving.

Ran flinched.

Panic welled up, hot and cloying, as his head pounded with his heartbeat. "I know you hate—please, I'll go; I'll find somewhere else, just—don't take him away!"

Kaito's arms wrapped around him, pulling him back against a chest that was teen-narrow but still felt so broad to Conan's child-frame, a tight hold that eased back terror.

Conan didn't—quite—frown as he got a hold of himself, the fear dimming to uneasy confusion. Why was he so emotional? He wasn't a child, no matter what he looked like, and even post-migraine exhaustion could only account for so much. Although... if they'd given him some kind of opioid*... Well, he didn't usually react well to those and even after they'd officially worn off, they left him off-balance for _days_ afterwards.

Add in the genuine fear of losing Kaito for good, and... yeah. Okay. Maybe. But that meant dealing with panic attacks for at least three days and panic attacks plus kiddie school promised to be a nightmare.

Kaito's fingers were carding through his hair again, the grip easing a little, and when Conan glanced up, Ran looked much closer to heartbroken than terrified.

Either way, though, living at the Agency with Kaito would be... hard.

Conan closed his eyes, indulging in a moment of weakness and leaning back into Kaito's invisible hold. With his eyes closed, he could almost pretend that Kaito was fine, that this was just the aftermath of another joint effort to take down some dangerous criminal group. That they were _both_ fine.

Almost.

_xxxx_

_*Intended as a bit of a pun as well as a cover for any time 'Conan' starts to address his 'nii-san' as 'Kaito' and remembers not to halfway through. Taken from 'Kaito', 'Kaitou', and 'kaihou suru' which means to free, as in liberate or release. (There are several other meanings, as well, but the kanji is different and they aren't relevant to the story.)_

_*Opioids and narcotics are pretty much the same thing. _

_xxxx_


	6. Chapter 5

_._

**_Chapter 5_**

Kaito frowned (unseen), easing his hold on Conan without letting go entirely, continuing to card his fingers through hair that was slowly growing less neat under the attention. Shinichi—even Shinichi-as-Conan—did not panic. _Ever._

That he was panicking _now..._

Mouri-chan was swallowing hard, clearly less nervous than sad after Conan's series of half-truths, and Conan himself was slumping down in clear exhaustion, slowly going slack in Kaito's arms. Kaito hesitated, considering possibilities. The migraine? He didn't know much about them, but he did know they weren't just 'bad headaches', that they did more to the central nervous system than just 'ow'.

He _hadn't _known Shinichi got them. Probably explained the exhaustion, though, and considering how absolutely tiny he was... the meds? Was he still riding hospital-grade painkillers? Was he getting sick? Had he been injured and hidden it? All possible, although the last was least likely, considering the hospital visit would theoretically have revealed any injury severe enough to have played a part in collapse. Either way, though, it wasn't like he could ask in front of the Mouris. Conan was clearly sliding back into the 'out-of-it' stage he'd been in off-and-on since he'd collapsed and Kaito really didn't want to prompt a response that might blow the detective's cover.

Meanwhile, the fact that Conan was starting to doze off in his arms was a great reason to pick him up.

A lack of protest would have been telling enough, but Conan curling into his chest was far more so. Kaito fought back the worry wrapping a stranglehold around his heart.

Apparently Ran realized the significance of the gesture as well, even though she could only see a child curled up against nothing while floating in the air. Her expression shifting from 'scared of' to 'anxious for' gave another possibility for the panic and neediness—Conan playing up his reactions to put the Mouris more at ease with Kaito's presence.

Hopefully that was it.

Kaito glanced across to each Mouri in turn, noting that Ran was still a bit pale and Kogoro was staring at Conan with a look that was something between interested and unnerved. Another moment passed, then Kogoro cleared his throat uneasily. "Upstairs, the room on the right. His futon is in the closet, but you can put him in the bed for now."

Kaito dipped forward in a slight bow, letting the shift of Conan's position indicate the movement, then turned away. He made his way up the stairs—careful to avoid prying eyes—and deposited Conan on the indicated bed. The smaller boy blinked several times, seeming to have trouble focusing.

Kaito frowned and sent a text, a generalized '...?' to leave the question itself open to interpretation.

Conan flopped his head deeper into rumpled blankets, "Opioid. I think. They make me weird for _days._"

Kaito grimaced and sent a much more specific question. 'Panic attacks?'

Conan nodded tiredly, closing his eyes. "General anxiety, builds pretty rapidly. Gets worse for a day or so, then starts getting better."

Kaito winced. That didn't sound fun at all, and the furrow between the apparent gradeschooler's eyes was growing more obvious. Kaito smoothed his thumb over the crease and Conan made a soft sound.

"Painkiller effect is wearing off," he explained tiredly.

Kaito paused, considering the light-level in the room against what he knew of migraines.

"Futon?" Conan asked, just a little slurred.

Didn't like the bed? Kaito shrugged and went to pull the futon out of the closet, flipping it open in the darkest corner of the room. Admittedly, 'darkest' wasn't saying too much, so he'd set up a better light-screen as soon as he had Conan settled.

Conan, who was sitting up and moving to slide off the bed, only to stagger and put a hand to his temple as his feet hit the floor.

Kaito was torn between rolling his eyes and going to pick him up again. He settled for moving to guide him by a hand on the shoulder. A coherent Shinichi, no matter how small, would not appreciate being picked up. His stubbornness was both predictable and exasperating, but Kaito could understand it. If he had been forced to deal with half the indignities that he regularly saw inflicted on the miniaturized detective, he would cling to every possible scrap of self-sufficiency he could as well.

Forty seconds later, Conan was safely ensconced on a futon inside a hastily-raised blanket-fort to block the light.

A soft sigh came from under the makeshift tent, "Thanks."

Kaito huffed silently and tapped on the nearest blanket. Conan didn't respond, so Kaito took that as a 'sleeping' and sat back.

Now... what to do with himself while his main link to the world was sleeping?

_xxxx_

Ten minutes later, he'd decided. A hop out the window and text to Mouri-chan later, and he was headed back towards the Kudo mansion on invisible 'wings'.

Once there, he cobbled together a lunch (he got hungry, and he wouldn't if he were a ghost, right? He tried to ignore all the cultures—including his own—that offered food to the dead,) then set about scouting the area around the Kudo mansion and the Agasa residence. Once he was satisfied he knew the layout and that there were currently no suspicious objects or people nearby, he used his glider to do a tri-pattern aerial surveillance of the streets Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai had taken to school that morning. Even if Conan didn't usually go that way, living as he did at the Agency, Haibara did and Conan obviously would want his friend safe, too.

Another area sweep of the school itself, grounds and outside of the building only. He'd have to come back after dark to do a more thorough search, check out the school as a whole and make sure Conan's classroom wasn't bugged. Whoever was gunning for the kid probably didn't know who exactly they were gunning for, or they would have caught him already, but there was the off-chance that they or someone else had an eye on him. He was pretty high-profile, what with all the cases he got cought up with and his reputation as Mouri Kogoro's apprentice. (Never mind the fact that the alcoholic hardly ever did any of the work and it was nearly always Conan himself settling things from behind the scenes.)

Ten minutes into his idle exploration of the school roof (lots of nooks and crannies, great for hiding things or people) and the ending bell rang, tinny and faint through an open window somewhere down the wall. Kaito hopped up and bounced off the edge of the roof, taking advantage of the steady updraft provided by the sun-warmed concrete in order to get airborne. Would be easy to stay in the air, too, as the darker asphalt of the streets generally got even warmer.

He spent several minutes looping slowly above the Shonen Tantei-dan—and chibi-Science-san—and frowned when they turned towards the Agency instead of Agasa's. Still, he was mostly satisfied with the relative safety of Conan's usual daytime torture-chamber (because going over basic addition and subtraction and reading first-grade level hiragana couldn't be classified as anything but torture to a high school student), and leaving a panic-prone Shinichi alone with the Mouris for long increased the chances of him blowing his 'Conan' cover sky high.

_That_ thought had him re-angling his glider, looping up and away from the four first-graders trudging worriedly down the street to head back to a (hopefully still sleeping) somewhat drugged miniature meitantei.

He slipped back in through the same window he'd left by, a quick check showing that Conan was still huddled under the blanket-tent, eyebrows scrunched in pain despite the fact that he was sleeping.

Kaito sighed and sent an 'I'm back' text to Mouri-chan, not wanting to startle her when she thought he wasn't there. Not 'I'm home.' 'Tadaima' was for one's own home and this was not his.

... Not Shinichi's either, for all that Conan claimed it, and he always had to hide who he was while near either of the Mouris. Did he even have to be here? Why _was_ Shinichi staying with the Mouris? Kaito had never thought to ask, but surely Shinichi would have an easier time overall if he wasn't constantly having to hold up a front of being someone else in front of someone he's been all but raised with.

Voices from the actual Agency office downstairs had Kaito slipping out of the upper apartment and down to eavesdrop from the staircase, leaving the door behind him cracked just enough to make it possible to hear Conan if he woke. He was a little concerned with what Mouri-chan would tell the Shonen Tantei, especially as Haibara was with them and she wasn't a naïve little child.

"Conan-kun's not feeling well," Ran was in the midst of explaining. "He's sleeping upstairs and I don't think you should wake him."

"Migraine?" Haibara asked.

A tint of surprise in the Mouri girls' reply, "Hai. It got pretty bad. He was having trouble seeing and the doctors gave him some very strong painkillers."

"Nothing opioid, I hope," Haibara murmured, actually sounding a bit concerned.

Ran hesitated, "I don't remember. It might have been morphine; why?"

"He doesn't react well to certain painkillers, according to the last time he was hospitalized. He was complaining about opioids for days."

Another moment of hesitation, the Ran's voice again. "I may have to call and ask. I really don't know."

Kaito sighed to himself and sent a text, 'Yes to the opioid. Morphine drip, third-dose for standard adult, which is still a lot for someone Conan's size. They got it in the IV before I realized what it was, but he was in enough pain that I might have let them anyway. He'll be anxious for a few days, with a possibility for panic attacks.'

Ran sighed and Kaito heard the couch creak a bit like she was leaning against the weaker armrest. "Well, Ai-chan, I'll be sure to let Agasa-hakase know when Conan-kun is feeling better and remind him to tell you, too. Meanwhile, though, I thing we should all let Conan-kun sleep."

Haibara's voice came out strongly decisive, "I'll let everyone know when I hear from you," she informed. "You are correct; he will recover more quickly if he is allowed uninterrupted rest."

Kaito slipped back up the stairs when he heard the distinctive sounds of four little bodies hopping off couches, pleased by the fact that Mouri-chan hadn't even hinted at his existence.

Now all he had to do was keep the Mouris from talking to Agasa for long until Shinichi could let the man know what the Mouri's had been told.

... That might be a little easier said than done.

_xxxx_


	7. Chapter 6

.

**_Chapter 6_**

Conan woke up in a fuzzy sort of darkness, the gold-tinted light of the streetlamp below Mouri's window edging beneath... a blanket-tent? He blinked, frowning, then pieced together a hazy memory of being put to bed by his invisible guardian. The makeshift tent (clearly meant to keep out light) was obviously Kaito's doing. He remembered it being light when he'd fallen asleep, and it was dark now, so...

Conan tapped the 'night glow' function on his watch and squinted down at the resulting collection of greenish dots, the low glow stingingly bright against oversensitive eyes. A little past nine, and he was starting to feel very anxious. Rationally, he knew it was due to a poor reaction to a chemical, but that didn't actually make him feel any more at ease.

He took a slow breath and rolled upright to poke his head out of the makeshift tent, hoping Kaito was somewhere nearby, and immediately startled when bare fingers ruffled his hair. Considering the lack of visible body attached, it was safe to bet that was his newly declared 'Nii-san'.

Conan relaxed a bit, reminding himself again that the burning anxiety was drug-induced and that he had to be careful not to fixate.

A familiar compact mirror dropped into his hand as the tent behind him reformed into folded blankets so quickly he couldn't track it, and Kaito settled behind his shoulder, a solid presence that was a clearer hint than words had ever been. Conan flipped open the grey compact and angled the mirror until he could see Kaito's face-hat and monocle not there, but still in trademark Kid-white. Conan supposed changing clothes was something of a moot point when you were invisible and didn't have to worry about things like body odor or ambient temperature.

'You all right?' Kaito asked, the mirror reflecting carefully-formed words.

"Better than earlier," Conan stated, not answering the question directly.

A reflected grimace, 'That's a 'no', then.'

"I will be," Conan countered.

'You'd _better_ be,' Kaito's gaze was somewhere between mockingly firm and worried.

Conan shook his head slightly, fondly exasperated. "What about you?"

A long moment of no response, then Kaito's shoulders shifted in an inaudible sigh. 'I don't know,' he admitted.

"It's been four days since your heist," Conan whispered reluctantly, "and... Hakuba-san..."

'Tried to check up on me less than an hour after,' Kaito huffed again, the breath ruffling past Conan's ear in a barely-felt puff. 'I know he's checked the outside of the house already, but he'll ask Aoko to check the inside and start bugging Jii-chan, if he hasn't already. When I'm not there...'

Conan winced, "She'll get Hakuba-san to check."

'He won't find anything,' Kaito assured. 'I made sure of that. If it even matters, now.'

Conan gave a sigh of his own, "... what about Jii-san and Chikage-baa-chan?"

In the small round mirror, Conan could see Kaito's eyes close, his expression giving voice to pain he wouldn't otherwise admit. 'I don't know. I don't want them to find out about...' a vague but encompassing gesture. 'They'd... I don't want to do this to them. I didn't want to do this to _you,_ but I didn't know what else to do.'

Conan understood that. To know Kaito was dead would be bad enough. To know he hadn't even been granted _peace..._

Conan closed his own eyes for a long moment, nodding once. "Hakuba will call me again, if he doesn't just show up," he murmured.

Fingers wound into his hair, tugging gently in a prompt for Conan to open his eyes. 'We'll deal with that when it comes. For now, you need to eat and get some more rest.'

Conan hummed tired acquiescence, closing the mirror and tucking it in the breast-pocket of pajamas he didn't remember having been changed into. (Probably Kaito, then, or he would have woken.) He had kiddie school in the morning, and he wasn't sure if he wanted Ran to keep him home or not. On the one hand, _kiddie school._ On the other, if he didn't go to school he wouldn't be allowed to go _anywhere_, and being cooped up in the Agency while dealing with an opioid-induced anxiety trip—intermittent panic attacks included—seemed like a really, _really_ bad idea.

His phone buzzed and he glanced around, only to see it drop into his lap from an invisible hand. He opened the new message.

'You need to talk to the Hakase. He needs to know what you've told the Mouris.'

Conan grimaced at the message, "I'll have to tell him about you."

An affirming shoulder-squeeze was his answer.

"That means Haibara will find out, and the kids will realize something's going on pretty quickly."

Slight hesitation, then a second squeeze.

Conan sighed, leaning into the touch, allowing his weariness to show. Kaito let him stay that way for a minute, then pushed him gently, prompting.

Right. Food. "Hai, hai," he shifted forward to get up and the steady presence moved, a gloved (and how did he get gloves on that fast?) hand catching his to help pull him to his feet.

Conan shook his head, a fond smile twitching his lips upwards. "... mother hen."

Fingers ruffled his hair vigorously in retaliation.

_xxxx_

Morning dawned bright and Conan had his school things ready before Ran had even come to check on him and he trudged out into the main room with Kaito an invisible-but-felt presence behind him.

Ran frowned at his bag, but didn't protest, only urging him to eat quickly so she could walk him to school.

Kobayashi-sensei glanced up in surprise when Conan made his way into the classroom a half-hour before the early-birds tended to show up, blanching just a little on seeing who it was. Ran entered barely seconds after he did, and the teen's presence mostly redirected the teacher's attention and she blinked at Ran, looking mildly confused.

"Mouri-san? Is something wrong?"

"Iie*," Ran confirmed. "The doctors gave Conan morphine yesterday, and he didn't react well. He's been very anxious when he's awake, and I would have had him stay with Tou-san, but..."

Kobayashi grimaced, probably thinking of murder cases. "Right. What do I need to watch for?"

Ran sighed, "Just... if he starts panicking, take him somewhere quiet where he can be alone for a while."

The teacher frowned, more considering than anything, "There's nothing else I should do?"

"Nothing," Ran confirmed, her eyes flicking around the room as if to catch a glimpse of Conan's guardian ghost.

Conan sighed. Kaito was there—right behind his shoulder, at that—taking care to place a hand on the back of Conan's neck whenever he started to tense. Invisible gloved fingers were pressing firmly against his nape even as Ran spoke to his teacher.

Kobayashi looked a little nervous as she agreed and Ran left for her own classes over at Teitan High.

Once the teen was gone, Kobayashi's eyes flicked over to Conan and she shifted her weight uneasily. "Conan-kun?"

"Hai, Sensei?" Conan straightened up a little and Kaito's grip shifted to his shoulder, a firmly reassuring pressure.

The teacher's eyes paused at cloth that was rumpled in a slightly unnatural manner, invisible fingers holding it pressed down.

Conan sighed, leaning into Kaito's hold tiredly, "Nii-san won't hurt you," he informed the teacher. "He doesn't hurt people. He never has."

Kobayashi hesitated, gaze darting towards her desk drawer briefly, and Conan wondered if she had ofuda or news printouts in there. Over half the cases 'Conan' had been party to were a matter of public record, after all, and she _had_ been with the Shonen Tantei-dan for that one case with the magazine writer. She had very obviously noticed Conan was the de-facto (but not declared) leader of the group and also clearly noticed how at ease with the situation a group of five (supposedly) children had been.

She'd fangirled afterward, but had she also checked up on those cases the group or members of it had been party to? If she had, she would know Conan attracted more trouble than the rest of Teitan Elementary combined. Had she realized it was the ease of familiarity or did she think it was just a lack of true understanding?

The hand on his shoulder gave a light squeeze, breaking him from his thoughts. Conan blinked, shaking himself as though waking. "None of that has been Kai-nii's fault. He would only want them to rest, anyway."

Kobayashi's expression cleared.

Gah, she _had_ been listening to Division One gossip!

"Let me know if you need to leave the classroom, Conan-kun," the teacher smiled at him, concerned and a little wry, "I wouldn't want Shinigami-san to have to remind me."

Conan paused, not really having expected so blatant a response, then turned his attention up and to the side. "What did you do to my teacher?"

His phone buzzed a moment later with Kaito's reply, 'Nothing! She just tripped while carrying you and freaked out when I steadied her... so I _may_ have just taken you until she got her balance back.'

Conan covered his face with one hand, "Do you realize what having something invisible grab on to them does to most people's stress-levels?"

Another buzz, 'I was more concerned with the fact that you had just _convulsed and passed out,_ thank you.'

Oh. Well, Conan couldn't really argue with that one. "Okay," he sighed, rubbing at his forehead and feeling Kaito's hand tighten on his shoulder worriedly, "He didn't mean to scare you, Sensei. He just hasn't seen me get sick like that, so he panicked a bit."

Kobayashi's gentle smile said she was taking this much better than either of the Mouris even though she thought Kaito was a Shinigami. "That's understandable," she agreed, "He seems to take good care of you."

Conan smiled back, hiding the sharp pang of grief. "Yeah. He does."

_xxxx_

As soon as school got out (and it hadn't been as bad as Conan had feared, with him only having to leave the classroom twice) Conan made his way to Agasa's with Haibara and the kids following. The professor (as usual) was delighted to see the kids and set them to testing his latest game system when Conan caught his eye. Haibara followed the two of them to the kitchen.

Conan hesitated, a gloved finger prodding the back of his head in a prompting manner before he sighed and started, "Hakase..."

_xxxx_

The explanation was... not _well_ received, but not so much badly as skeptically. Until Kaito proved his existence by starting to help Conan make sandwiches, anyway, and Haibara's eyes had widened at that while Agasa had been fascinated.

"I wonder if—" the inventor caught sight of Shinichi's expression as he let his Conan masks slip for a moment and his enthusiasm evaporated into understanding. "... I'll remember, Shinichi. Do you need me to tell your parents?"

Conan nodded, grimacing.

Agasa nodded back and Haibara picked up the plate of sandwiches and turned away, pausing in the kitchen doorway, "The others will notice sooner or later and we should keep the stories matching."

"I know," Conan sighed, "I'll tell them before we leave."

Haibara gave a sharp nod, "I will also need a blood sample. I want to make sure the morphine hasn't done more than add to your anxiety levels."

Conan dipped his head in reluctant agreement. Understandable, if unpleasant, and it _was_ a good idea to keep an eye on chemical mixes, especially as the one still in his system had been intended to kill him. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger the Apotoxin to start working as Gin had meant it to. Telling the kids about Kaito's presence could wait until the vampiric chemist got her blood.

_xxxx_

*_"Iie" is "no", while "hai" is "yes", but it is worth noting that Japanese denial/confirmation conventions oppose that of English. Where an English-speaker would say "No, there is nothing wrong," or "Yes, there is something wrong," a Japanese-speaker would say "No, there is," or "Yes, there isn't."_

_xxxx_


	8. Chapter 7

_._

_**Chapter 7**_

It wasn't a really a surprise when Hakuba interrupted Conan's plan by ringing Agasa's doorbell, but Kaito dreaded the reason for his presence all the same. When Conan grimaced and made his way to the entry before Hakuba could remove his shoes, Kaito caught the intention.

He made his way across the living room, avoiding Mitsuhiko as the boy griped at Genta for something or other that Kaito wasn't paying any attention to, making a point of tapping Conan's shoulder to make sure he was aware of Kaito following.

Small fingers unobtrusively reached out to brush against the silk of his sleeve and he knew Tantei-kun (at that moment, more the in-between than Shinichi or Conan) was appreciative of his presence.

The three (two and two, Kaito walking with Conan and Conan walking with Kaito and Hakuba, but Hakuba oblivious to Kaito's presence) walked in silence for over two blocks before Hakuba finally sighed, "You know something."

Tantei-kun hesitated and Kaito reached out to tap his shoulder, slow and careful. **T-e-l-l**.

The small detective grimaced and turned his attention to the blond, not speaking. Well, Kaito supposed Tantei-kun usually had nearly as many plans as Kid, and most of his were reactive instead of instigating, so...

"Nakamori-san asked me to go to Kuroba's house with her," Hakuba informed after a few more seconds of silence.

Huh. Tantei-kun's silence got more information. Useful trick.

Blue eyes only briefly glanced at Hakuba and Kaito wondered if his planted hints had been interpreted as he'd intended them to be.

As Tantei-kun kept quiet, Hakuba shifted his shoulders uneasily and spoke again. "... It looks as though he left the night of the last heist and never got back. His doves were getting low on food and water—Nakamori-san is taking care of them, now—and, judging by the pad of paper next to the refrigerator, Kuroba had been intending to go shopping before returning home."

"He didn't," Tantei-kun stated, quiet and assured.

Hakuba paused mid-stride, glancing down at the smaller detective. "No," he agreed cautiously, "he didn't."

Tantei-kun let out a breath, glancing towards Kaito despite the fact that Kaito knew the other boy couldn't see him, shoulders tense.

Kaito reached out, tugging off a glove to place his palm against the boy's nape in an attempt to reassure, or at least offer something like comfort.

It didn't ease the line of Conan's shoulders much, but the tiny tantei did tip his head slightly, pushing back into the light pressure.

Hakuba frowned, eying the strange (to his eyes, anyway) gesture. "Edogawa-kun... what do you know?"

Conan swallowed and Kaito didn't need to see his expression to know what it was. He didn't like doing this to Shinichi. Using him like this—even _haunting_ him—but Shinichi seemed to _want_ him there. Even like this.

"Edogawa-kun?" Hakuba sounded nervous, almost worried.

Kaito firmed his grip a bit, nudging forward in an attempt to convey that Conan should just answer and be done with it.

"He's... been with me, since a few hours after you called."

Hakuba's tension didn't lessen as he obviously caught words and tone as being completely contradictory. "He's... all right, then?"

"...no," Conan bowed his head, pain leaking into his voice, "No, he's not."

"What are you saying?"

Shinichi sighed, looking up with a tired expression, nothing of Conan left in his stance. "I don't know what happened, Hakuba-san. He hasn't been able to tell me, though he did try. But..." a shiver, and Kaito stopped resisting the urge to drop to his knees and pull that tiny (trembling again) form back against his chest. Shinichi would have had a hard enough time with this even without the med-induced anxiety trip, but adding in a panic attack _now_ would be _so much worse._

Kaito ignored how Hakuba stiffened off to the side as Shinichi leaned back into Kaito's invisible hug, leaving the meitantei looking as though he was leaning impossibly against nothing. Hakuba would just have to deal with it.

Kaito eased his hold a little as Shinichi began to relax, opening his eyes to look up at Hakuba again, "I never believed in ghosts, you know, Hakuba-san," he informed, weary and matter-of-fact, "but some things just can't be denied."

Hakuba's school-bag slid from his shoulder to hit the sidewalk with a dull thump, the British detective paling dramatically, "How?" he choked on the word, clearly stunned.

"I don't know," Shinichi shook his head, "Is there somewhere safe that we can talk?"

_xxxx_

Kaito listened to confirmation of what he'd already known of Conan's predicament at the British detective's house (read 'mansion') the undersized detective needing to explain why Hakuba had to keep the fact that Kaito wasn't Conan's brother by blood a secret. He didn't admit to being a shrunken version of a famous seventeen-year-old, but he _did_ admit to being in hiding—specifically from a group of international criminals—and explain what he'd told the Mouris. "Besides which," he finished his shortened explanation, "Tou-san and Kuroba Toichi were very good friends. If things had been different... we would have been raised like brothers."

Hakuba stared, "Have you known about Kuroba being Kid the _entire time?_"

Kaito frowned, and the text he sent went to Hakuba, this time, from a phone as electronically invisible as he himself was. 'You're _still_ on that? I'm wandering around silent and invisible!'

Hakuba flinched, "I... Kuroba, I never wanted..."

Kaito sighed, though the gesture was lost on the Brit. Conan glanced up, though—probably able to feel the breath against his hair. 'I know,' he paused, then followed up the two-word text with a longer one. 'You don't seem to understand that Kid has enemies. They killed Tou-san on the _chance_ and they would gladly add anyone they think even _might_ be involved to the list of 'accidental deaths' they have orchestrated, if not outright assassinate. From what I've seen... I cannot be completely certain, but I think that Conan and Kid have the same problem. I tolerated your accusations because it was _me_, but I won't stand for you placing Conan in danger.'

Hakuba swallowed at that text and Kaito had to wonder if Hakuba thought it was a serious threat. If he did, he was giving more credence to the 'ghosts have no human morals' lore than Kaito thought it deserved.

"I won't say anything," Hakuba said soft and rough. "You're... it doesn't matter, now, anyway."

Kaito hesitated for a long moment, 'Don't tell Aoko... or Kaa-san and Jii-chan.'

Hakuba jerked his head back a bit, looking offended, "I'm not going to go around accusing you _now_, Kuroba."

"He doesn't mean that," Conan interrupted, catching sight of the kanji on Hakuba's cell-screen. "He's not—it could break them."

Hakuba stiffened, shoulders tensing.

"It's bad enough that..." Conan shook his head, "... but you _know_ how much putting the dead to rest means to us; being mostly raised in England doesn't make you _ignorant_."

Kaito closed his eyes against the pain in Conan's (Shinichi's) voice. He'd known his presence had to hurt, but... 'I'm sorry.'

Conan opened his phone and stared at the message in silence for several seconds before turning his attention up and to the side, eyes seeming to lock on to Kaito even though the magician knew he couldn't be seen. "Don't be."

'Don't be'? Kaito blinked, confused at the meaning, and apparently Shinichi was psychic, now, because Conan elaborated.

"This wasn't your fault, and... I'm glad you didn't leave."

That was... Kaito bowed his head and hugged Conan around the shoulders. He'd said things to indicate, yes, but that was the first time Shinichi had outright _told_ Kaito he was not only accepted but welcome. He had never been so grateful to be _wanted._

_xxxx_


	9. Chapter 8

_._

**_Chapter 8_**

Hakuba wasn't going to be much help, not for a while, Conan reflected as the Brit escorted him (and Kaito) back towards the Agency, it being too late for Conan to go back to Agasa's. He seemed pretty shell-shocked.

Or _started_ to escort (them) him back, anyway, because if _Shinichi_ was a murder-magnet in any form, Shinichi with another halfway decent detective nearby was a guaranteed body-find and even _Kaito_ didn't have enough luck to offset it.

If that weird 'universe trying to break his way' effect even still existed after... well. Being a ghost probably negated that.

Barely half-way back, just entering Beika-chou*, Conan stopped and kneaded his forehead when he heard the scream, more exhaustedly exasperated than upset.

... it really said something about his life that terrified screams were a source of exasperation instead of, say, _alarm._

Still, Conan dropped his hand and turned towards the source of the sound, intending to check, even as Hakuba did the same.

Kaito didn't seem to agree, judging by the invisible fingers catching Conan by the shoulder and the sharp buzz of his phone.

Conan paused to flip it open and glance at the screen.

'Tantei-kun...'

The ellipsis was pretty clear, considering.

"If someone's dead, I can't walk away."

Seconds passed, Hakuba wavering several feet away uncertainly, seeming caught between staying with Conan (perceived child, potentially dangerous situation) and going to check on the source of the scream (current silence, sound of horror over pain or fear, possible body) when Conan's phone buzzed again.

'I know.' The grip on Conan's shoulder eased, then vanished.

Conan was running before Hakuba could begin to react.

_xxxx_

By the time Hakuba had caught up, Conan had already gotten the cause and approximate time of death as well as a fairly definitive 'innocent' mental marker on the young woman who'd found the body.

Cyanide poisoning (probably delivered in the drink that had been in the paper hot-cup lying on its side against the alley wall) and the body (female, mid-twenties, single) was still quite warm, so either the murdered woman had been running a fever or she'd only been dead a very short time.

Conan didn't look up on hearing Hakuba jog into the alley, "You're very quick, Edogawa-kun," he informed, slightly breathless.

Conan didn't bother to reply to that, instead focusing on the scene in front of him.

"... and adhering to proper forensic procedure," Hakuba observed, sounding a little disbelieving.

"Would you rather I contaminated the crime scene?" Shinichi asked sardonically, checking the woman's purse. Wallet untouched (no surprise), ID declaring her to be a Yamato Riza, no fever medication; most likely...

Hakuba looked a bit taken aback when Shinichi glanced up, not bothering to hide behind Conan's contrived childishness as he replaced each item exactly how it had been before. "Yamato Riza, twenty-six years old, evidence of cyanide poisoning. She's been dead between twenty and thirty minutes and the abbreviation on the café cup indicates it was a vanilla-almond latte, double-shot—a perfect candidate for housing cyanide as the almond would cover the smell."

Hakuba opened his mouth, but Shinichi wasn't finished. "She was probably single and largely estranged from her family. Aside from that, I don't have anything useful, yet."

Hakuba blinked several times and Conan's phone buzzed.

'It's been less than two minutes since you got here, Tantei-kun,' the screen informed.

Shinichi blinked himself, then glanced up at a visibly shocked Hakuba, realizing his mistake.

"Edogawa-kun... how do you know all that?"

Conan, in his 'working with Hattori in public' mode (serious but quiet enough to avoid being overheard), answered, "She doesn't have any pictures, jewelry, or trinkets on her—not even a necklace or cell-phone strap. It could mean she's just completely unsentimental, but that would be very unusual for a woman her age. Since jewelry and knickknacks are often gifts from family, friends, or 'significant others', its not unreasonable to think that she wasn't particularly close to... anyone, lately.

"Cyanide's obvious—you can see it yourself. Name and exact age from her ID. She doesn't have a drivers' license on her, so probably didn't have one at all. The body's still warm, enough that she'd feel alive if she had a pulse, so, considering the temperature today, either she had a fever when she died or she died very recently.

"There's no medicine in her purse and she doesn't have a flu-mask, so probably the second," he shrugged, "All of it's pretty obvious, so far. Meanwhile, she got that coffee just down the street, so we can find out if it was a regular order pretty easily. The police should be here soon, by the way. I called them."

"They took you seriously?"

Conan rolled his eyes, "Dispatch has a code for me, now. It'll probably be either Takagi-keiji and Sato-san or Megure-keibu and Shiratori and Chiba-san."

Conan's phone buzzed and Conan glanced at the message, smiling wryly on reading it, 'I know you're a Barghest*, Tantei-kun, but your own _code?_ I'm starting to see why your teacher thinks I'm a Shinigami.'

"Megure started that," he informed. "He said that Kogoro-jii-chan had one following him, and then someone linked his 'stumble onto every murder scene there is' thing to the fact that I'm always with him when it happens, then Sato-san pointed out that I see more bodies than he does and..."

"How are you still _sane?_" Hakuba asked incredulously.

Apparently Kaito couldn't let that one pass unremarked, because Hakuba's phone chirped a message sound.

Conan tilted his head to try and read it, only managing to see 'invited me to haunt him'. He could guess that his sanity had just been called into question.

He sighed. He couldn't even refute that.

_xxxx_

The case took significantly less time than it otherwise might have, Hakuba—still somewhat stunned—just letting Conan walk him through the majority of the case without protest, Takagi and Sato (both used to Conan's insights) not batting an eye at the high-school detective listening to the apparent grade-schooler.

"It was Shimura," Conan informed, laying out the evidence he'd found to support his claim to Hakuba, just out of immediate hearing range of the police at the scene.

"So, you know who did it," Hakuba stated, eying Conan oddly, "and you have proof—undeniable proof, at that—but you _don't_ have a motive?"

Conan shrugged, "I don't have access to his house or friends, so I don't have a real insight into his personality or mindset. As it stands, the other two working at that coffee shop this morning believe he doesn't have any connection to the victim aside from an 'employee-to-customer' one."

Hakuba grimaced down at Conan and Conan only quirked an eyebrow back at him. "Well, are you going to get him arrested or not?"

Hakuba hesitated and Conan scowled, "If you want to know why he did it, ask him, but you'll have to have him completely cornered before he'll answer. I literally just _gave_ you everything you need to put him away."

Conan's phone buzzed and he glanced at the latest bit of input from Kaito, shaking his head at the semi-exasperated explanation. 'Hakuba doesn't like not having a motive no matter how much evidence there is towards guilt.'

"I understand that, but the fact that there is no clear motive makes this much more dangerous. If he's a starting serial, he won't _have_ a personal motive."

Hakuba blinked twice and his expression shifted from dissatisfied to surprised and then through to alarmed. "I... had not considered that kind of possibility."

Conan relaxed slightly as Hakuba turned to shred the young man's surprisingly thorough cover, and then the Brit asked his trademark question. Usually he had some idea, but this time motive was unclear even to Conan.

"Why did you do it?"

The man tilted his head, almost birdlike in his consideration. His eyes skittered across the gathered people—the two other workers, further back in the corner, horrified but not quite disbelieving. Conan stiffened as those eyes strafed across Hakuba and the two police officers, then further out, eying the forensics packing up near the door...

Then those eyes (eyes that reminded Conan of Gin's, but where Gin was coldly unfeeling, there was a more active malice here) hit Conan.

He could see the sudden burst of mad calculation, and Conan's breath froze as Shimura replied, a smirk twisting his lips. "To see if I could."

A blur of motion—Conan flung himself sideways, having seen the insane predator in the man's gaze, rolling up with his watch aiming towards a glittering black glare, Sato and Takagi launching towards the man in sync while Hakuba shifted his stance to attempt a grab—

Kaito was faster and utterly unseen.

Shimura Saru hit the ground, the faint tang of Kid's sleeping gas barely noticeable against the well-ventilated shop.

"Err..." Takagi glanced around while Hakuba froze, paling when he realized what had happened.

Sato apparently had a 'cuff first, question later' policy, as she secured the unconscious man's arms and rolled him onto his front so he'd have a harder time getting up.

"... What just happened?"

Conan sighed, "You don't need to worry about it, Takagi-keiji. I have a tranquilizer-launcher in my watch in case of emergencies." Which was true, but not what had happened. Ironically, Conan's darts and Kid's pellets put people down for about the same amount of time. "He'll wake up in about half an hour."

Gloved fingers touched his arm and Conan leaned almost imperceptibly into the pressure, closing his eyes with a sigh. "Thanks, Kai-nii," he added in an undertone, careful on his form of address in case someone managed to overhear.

Fingers tapped against his arm, a slow and deliberate message.

Conan smiled tiredly, "Think we can get home without anything else happening?"

Conan glanced at his messages when a new one showed up, snorting at the English. 'Hope springs eternal.'

_xxxx_

_*-chou roughly translates to 'area' or 'district'._

_*Barghest (sing. and plural) is another name for Black Dogs, (now best known as Grim, due to the Harry Potter series) considered to be spirit-dogs associated with Death. Legends about them are widespread ad varied__—__from Black Shuck's appearances during lightning-storms to the Gurt Dog in Somerset who will protect children and lone travelers in the area. Barghest are generally considered to be ill omens when not directly harmful, rather like the description of the Harry Potter Grim (which isn't entirely accurate to legend)._


	10. Chapter 9

.

**_Chapter 9_**

So, apparently 'hope springing eternal' wasn't actually incorrect, Kaito thought to himself, following Conan into the Mouri Detective Agency and listening to his falsely cheerful "Tadaima!"

"Okaeri*," Mouri-chan called back from the kitchen, "Conan-kun, Agasa-hakase said you'd gone with Hakuba-san?"

The detective in question called his own greeting, "Mouri-san, I'm just here to drop off Edogawa-kun."

"Oh?" Mouri-chan came out of the kitchen wearing a white apron and holding a wooden spoon, "Hakuba-san, hello. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Kaito glanced over, catching the surprise and slight unease crossing his erstwhile classmate's face, "Ah, I'm not sure..."

"It's okay, Hakuba-nii!" Conan chirped in his unnerving 'little boy' voice, causing Kaito to look over at his 'otouto'.

Yeah, that was a scary look in the mini meitantei's eyes.

"We can go over the case from today!"

... and _that_ was why Conan was the scariest person he knew, Kaito thought as Mouri Ran's stance shifted subtly. Tantei-kun always knew _exactly_ what to say to back someone into a corner, and it was even creepier coming from Conan than a full-size Shinichi. That girl was a karate champion, and Hakuba had just been slapped onto her 'possible threat to Conan-kun' list.

Hakuba might be an unappreciative bastard most of the time, but Kaito didn't really want to see him maimed, so he took it upon himself to send a rescue.

Ran startled when her phone chirped, switching the spoon to her left hand to retrieve her phone with her right, flipping it open to glance at the message.

'It wasn't really his fault, Mouri-chan. They _were_ just out walking... and someone screamed. You know how my brother stumbles over death—he was cursed several years ago. It was bound to happen sometime today, and better that the other children weren't there.'

The girl sighed, closing her phone and dropping out of the 'I'm considering pummeling you' stance. "Was it bad?"

Hakuba grimaced, "Not... _bloody,_ if that's what you're asking. Poison, and the culprit had picked her because she frequented the coffee shop he worked at. He said it was to see if he could, and then he tried to attack Edogawa-kun."

Mouri-chan stiffened.

"I'm okay," Conan assured, "He didn't really get close—Kai-nii stopped him. He probably would have gone serial if we hadn't caught him, though, so it was a good thing we were there."

Mouri-chan's shoulders relaxed again and she glanced over at Hakuba uncertainly, obviously catching the unease in his expression and interpreting it as 'he knows about Conan's nii-san'. "Thank you, Kai-san," she murmured, directing it out at the air.

Kaito sent another text, 'No need for that. He's my family.'

The girl nodded; a small, sad smile crossing her face. "Waka'ta*."

Kaito sighed. He was starting to feel like a ghost. (He _was._)

"Kai-san? Shall I set you place?"

Kaito blinked, twice. Huh. That was... she must have noticed Conan sacrificing from his plate. That was _acceptance_.

'Thank you,' appeared in Mouri-chan's inbox.

"Hakuba-san? Will you join us as well?"

Kaito blinked again. He'd forgotten about the Brit.

"I..." Hakuba hesitated, shifting his weight. "... no. Not tonight, anyway. I need to take care of a few things."

From his expression, that meant 'think'. Kaito supposed he should be a bit more sympathetic, as he'd just upended a large portion of the British teen's world-view, but _Hakuba_ wasn't the one having to communicate almost entirely though _texting._

Kaito wasn't entirely comfortable trying Morse Code with anyone but Tantei-kun, and the way everyone but the miniature detective flinched if he so much as brushed up against them had him avoiding touch wherever possible.

He sighed, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. Kaito _liked_ attention, in uniform or out, and now... it was almost stifling, like he was caught with some kind of barrier between him and the world at large.

If Shinichi hadn't been so accepting of his presence, so attentive to where he was (somehow, and the meitantei seemed to be getting _better,_ even) he would have gone mad.

Gods _bless._ _Kaitou Kid_ was relying on a _detective_ to keep him (relatively) sane. What was the world coming to?

_xxxx_

Days fell into a pattern, and Kaito found himself growing used to relying on Conan for any real social interaction. Sure, he could text the Mouri girl or Hakuba (and he did, if they were in the immediate vicinity and he could hear their responses), but neither of them seemed to have any awareness of his location unless he outright touched them, and then they seemed more jumpy and uncertain than 'someone touched me'.

"What's wrong, Hakuba-san?" Conan had asked when Hakuba had stumbled and Kaito had automatically steadied him, only for the detective to flinch noticeably.

The answer had been more than Kaito had wanted to know.

"I—it felt like cold air bracing me. Was that…" the Brit trailed off, uneasy.

Conan frowned and Kaito swallowed. It was only the confused reply that kept him from freaking out entirely.

"I never feel like that when he touches me," Tantei-kun mused aloud, frowning. "He feels… warm. Alive, even, and if I've got my eyes closed or am watching the mirror it's…"

"Mirror?" Hakuba had asked, sharply curious.

Conan had explained and gestured to where Kaito was standing (without using the mirror, the magician noted), lending the reflective glass to the other detective.

Hakuba had not seen him.

So. Only Tantei-kun. And… Koizumi Akako _had_ said that there was something special about Kudo Shinichi before the Clock Tower heist, speaking in her usual riddles about eyes that pierced through all deception.

Mirrors were used as symbols of truth in some cultures, said to reflect what _was_ over what was either desired or perceived. Add in Tantei-kun's truth-vision and maybe it was enough, as Conan had mentioned beginning to see shadows and white haze from Kaito's direction.

Still, it meant he had to be more careful about not touching other people, because solid chilled air would be unnerving. Even so, he was beginning to think he really _was_ a ghost, what with all the strangeness of his own semi-existence.

Kaito had bowed his head and tried not to break down, because he didn't want to have his mom and Jii-chan and Aoko (and Nakamori-keibu) keep worrying and looking for him… but he didn't want to tell them he was dead.

He didn't want to _be_ dead.

_xxxx_

_*Tadaima and Okaeri are "I'm home" and "Welcome back" respectively. A traditional set of greetings when a resident enters their own home while someone is there to welcome them._

_*Otouto: brother (younger/little)_

_*Waka'ta: basically "I understand," and a reasonably common contraction of "Wakari mashi ta", which is the full version of "I understand". Technically past tense, so "I have understood" would be more accurate, but that is an awkward translation into English._


	11. Chapter 10

_._

**_Chapter 10_**

Days turned into weeks, then months, and Conan found himself relying on Kaito more than he'd ever thought possible. He wasn't just a source of protection (or comfort, though that one was still a little hard to admit aloud), he was rapidly becoming Conan's main link to sanity.

Hakuba occasionally stopped by, giving resigned reports on how Kaito's family (as Conan knew the erstwhile thief thought of the Nakamoris and Jii as well as Chikage) was doing.

Nakamori-keibu had given up hope of finding Kaito alive, but hadn't told his daughter that. Jii and Chikage had been convinced he'd been killed since the third day, but neither would say it outright. Kuroba Kaito had been labeled 'missing' and Kaitou Kid's coinciding silence had the elder Nakamori getting suspicious.

Haibara, on a less depressing note, was making progress with her research on an antidote to the Apotoxin, and said she had something she wanted him to try, so do please arrange a 'vacation with his family'.

Conan knew exactly what his excuse would be, and when he called his parents, they were resigned to playing along. Something in his father's tone said that Kaito meant something to them—something _important._ It took a moment to click.

Kudo Yuusaku had been named Kuroba Kaito's _godfather._ He had to be feeling guilty, thinking he'd failed by not being there, by using his 'watch from a distance' parenting policy, and was probably getting less at ease with Conan being in Tokyo without his parents' protection.

Conan sighed when he hung up, glancing at the shimmer of white that—while hazy and transparent—was getting clearer every day. "Kai-nii?" he asked, always careful to use that form of address when in the Agency regardless of whether or not there was anyone else in the immediate vicinity.

White shifted and a phone buzzed, '?'

"Haibara has something she wants to test next week. I'll be able to be myself for a while."

A pause, then a second question mark.

"You still need an alibi," Conan pointed out.

'You want to stage a heist?'

"Not exactly," Conan admitted. "I can play the visible part, but you _know_ I'm better at picking tricks apart than setting them up."

A slight modification to the previous text, 'You want to stage a heist with me?'

"Pretty much," Conan agreed. "You—haven't found what you're looking for, yet, right?" he didn't mention the fear he felt at the thought of Kaito actually finding whatever that was. If that was the reason he'd been able to stay, Conan didn't want him to find it. Didn't want him to _leave_. But that was selfish, and Kaito deserved better than this not-life.

'I'll head to the workshop while you're at kiddie school and start researching. I'll meet you at your classroom when your school gets out—please don't leave until I get there. I don't want to have to track you down.'

Conan nodded, "I'll be in the library if I'm not in the classroom."

A tap on his shoulder indicated acknowledgement, and Conan took a breath as the sense of presence and flicker of white (only seen from the corner of his eye) vanished together.

He sighed, leaning forward to rub at his face. Kaito was his anchor, now, but… he _couldn't_ be selfish. Not in this. He'd help Kid complete his mission, and if that let Kaito rest…

_It would be a good thing,_ Shinichi told himself, and he would do it. For Kaito's sake.

(He knew, by then, that Kaito would never ask, and if he was going to find peace, it would only be with Shinichi's offer.)

_xxxx_

It wasn't until Haibara asked what was wrong that he realized how much he'd come to count on Kaito's presence. That flicker of hazy white at the edge of his vision had become so much a part of his days that not having it there was more distracting than Kaito's random tapped English Morse messages.

Would he even know if something went wrong? What if Kaito just… disappeared?

"Edogawa-kun?" Haibara's questioning tone had Conan blinking and looking in her direction, wincing to himself.

If _Haibara _was acknowledging his twitching, it had to be pretty bad. "It's fine, Haibara," he murmured, keeping his voice low enough to avoid most of the class's attention, but since Kobayashi was hovering again… yeah, well, she had a vague idea, anyway. "Nii-san had to go somewhere today, but I've gotten so used to not-quite-seeing him that it's a little unnerving."

Kobayashi ruffled his hair with a cheery smile, obviously having heard. "Your Onii-san will be fine, I'm sure."

Of course she would think that, Conan didn't say. She thought Kaito was a _Shinigami_.

"I know," Conan chirped instead, "I just keep wondering if he's trying to sneak up on me again!" (Which was one thing Kaito hadn't—_wouldn't_ do, under the circumstances. Kid at a heist? Sure. Kaito with Conan? Sure. Ghost-Kaito with Shinichi? _Never_.)

Kobayashi gave a combination of a wince and a smile, "Ah, well, I'm sure it'll be fine, Conan-kun."

Conan nodded, dismissing the topic, and tried to focus on the mind-numbingly boring schoolwork in front of him. Since it _was_ kiddie school, he already knew all of the material, but it occurred to him that he needed something to actually work on that wouldn't have Kobayashi twitching.

… Handwriting? He _did_ have really bad calligraphy, and it wasn't like improving his handwriting would raise any alarms…

_xxxx_

Hours later, a flicker of indistinct white resolved into a faint but familiar shape and Conan breathed out, relieved. Then he froze, realizing that he could actually _see_ Kaito, not just as a flicker or indistinct shadow, but as himself in Kid-uniform (as he had been since that night).

"Kai-nii," he said softly, uncertain if anyone else was within hearing range between the stacks (being so short _sucked_), "I can… _see_ you." As Kaito had described himself, like a reflection in a window, a little faded and see-through but _there._

Kaito's visible eye widened, the monocle obscuring the other completely, and Conan saw his breath hitch. He wasn't sure Kaito _needed_ to breathe, actually, but he did breathe and that was enough. His lips moved in a shocked exclamation, and Conan caught something, a faint not-whisper at the very edge of his hearing.

No, that was his mind assigning sound to the word he knew had been attempted. If Kaito couldn't hear himself, there was no way _Conan_ would hear him. Still… "I said I can see you," he repeated in answer to the silent question.

Kaito swallowed and slowly, carefully went to one knee, spreading his arms a bit with an expression that was as much fear as hope.

Conan took two steps and flung himself into the requested embrace, understanding Kaito's need for proof and so wildly relieved himself that it was easy to let his usual reserve slide, just for a while.

Conan felt Kaito's lips moving against his hair and he huffed against a transparent cape-latch. "I can't read your lips from here, ba'arou. I've got a face full of shoulder."

Breath puffed against his head as the shoulder beneath him shook slightly in something that was probably more relieved hysteria than mirth, then he was being pushed back to arm's length to see Kaito repeat '_Thank you.'_

He understood the sentiment, but… "You don't need to thank me. Even if I knew how this—you're _family_. I couldn't…"

Another huffed breath, 'Even so.'

Conan smiled, a little wry. "Let's get out of here."

Kaito grinned back, all Kid, 'We've got a heist to plan.'

_xxxx_

Grateful that he had no reason to hide, here, Shinichi glanced over the plans that had already been made. After a moment's consideration, he frowned, "I'm not sure how much of this I can do," he admitted. "I know you'll take care of most of the magic, but… well, I'm always kind of unsteady after an antidote. If it'll last long enough and we make sure the heist is after I've had at least twelve hours to adjust, it should be fine, but we need to double check that with Haibara."

Kaito nodded, then gestured to some of the equipment scattered across the tabletop.

Shinichi nodded back, picking up one of Kid's most iconic items. Aside from the outfit, cape-glider, hat, and monocle; the card-gun was probably the international criminal's best-known trademark.

Kaito grinned a Kid-grin and showed him how to take it apart and the two of them spent the next several hours going through equipment and plans.

_xxxx_

Haibara clearly thought Shinichi was an idiot when he explained to her, but she also apparently knew him well enough to see he wasn't going to stand down. "Well," she informed, "If you insist on seeing what it's like on the other side of the law, I can at least make sure your body won't shrink in the middle of the heist.

Shinichi relaxed a bit, "Thanks, Haibara. You don't need to worry about it too much, though—I've got a Kaitou watching my back."

A sardonic eyebrow quirk added several lines of subtext to the miniature scientist's next comment, "That is the only reason I'm not locking you up for the duration. I'll assume Kid has protective equipment that will fit you, and this particular batch of the antitoxin should last roughly ninety hours, with an error margin of six in either direction."

Shinichi breathed out in relief, "Good. That'll give us some time to practice if we set this up right—when do you want to start the trial?"

"Whenever you can arrange that 'family trip'. You may need to actually have your actress mother here to do so, however."

Shinichi shook his head, "It would be easier to arrange to have Agasa-hakase pick me up and tell them I'm going to meet my family at the airport."

Haibara pursed her lips briefly, "That is true. Well, either way, it's best you make sure to arrange things."

"I already have their okay, but Kaa-san did say they needed to know how long. So…"

"Make it five days," Haibara instructed. "If you end up lasting the full four, you'll still need at least a day in recovery after the fact. The usual warnings apply, of course, and I'll need to know as soon as possible to start arraigning my own schedule."

Shinichi nodded, noticing Kaito frowning at him from the corner of his eye, and gave a quick farewell before taking the passage to his own house. Kaito obviously wanted to ask something, and he wasn't having whatever conversation it was going to end up being within Haibara's hearing range.

_xxxx_


	12. Chapter 11

_._

**_Chapter 11_**

Kaito frowned to himself, trailing after Shinichi in an underground tunnel that he'd not found on his own (impressive, but not currently _important_) as he considered the brown-haired girl's words. 'Day in recovery' sounded bad, and add in the vague 'usual warnings'…

Yeah. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, not really, but anything that could change a human body's size like _that_…

He hadn't thought about it before, and now that he was, he realized there was nothing that sounded even _remotely_ safe about it.

A dull clunk preceded a panel turning on its axis to reveal one of those floor-to-ceiling built in shelving units, one of three in the basement wall. Shinichi stepped through and Kaito followed, the shelf rotating back into place with another clunk, the seam disappearing as the shelf-door locked in place. It was covered in a scattering of reference books and folders with the occasional notebook and blueprint mixed in between dusty vases and unused mason jars.

All in all, it matched the other two shelves in general layout and function, aside from the whole 'hidden door' thing, looking like a place to store old writing materials (Kudo Yuusaku's, no doubt, as he was the author of the family) movie scripts (surely Yukiko's doing) and unused decorations (probably Shinichi, as he'd been the one living there).

Finished with his evaluation of the basement, Kaito turned his attention entirely to the undersized Shinichi, seeing something like unease in sharply blue eyes.

He had to ask, because what he'd heard was… worrying. 'What was she talking about?'

_xxxx_

Half an hour later, Kaito tugged off his gloves to rub both hands over his face. The explanation had been anything _but_ encouraging. He didn't want Tantei-kun to risk his life that way, with a pill that could be tantamount to suicide and _would_ cause pain.

He'd been evasive on the pain part, too, which meant it would be _bad._

Seeing the tiny detective dazed from the migraine had been bad enough. He didn't want to know what packing what amounted to ten years' worth of growing into under five minutes would be like.

Shinichi was stubborn, though, and he _would_ take that pill no matter what Kaito said about it. He'd probably want to do the heist with or without Kaito's cooperation, but he might have the sense to know he wouldn't pull of a believable 'Kid' unless he had a magician helping him… but then, Shinichi could also manage to play off fewer stunts than normal with a vague hint towards illness or injury, which would also diminish suspicion for Kid's more extended absence than usual.

And it was certainly safer for Shinichi if Kaito was watching his back, so he couldn't just stay out of it, not if he didn't want his favorite detective to end up dead by _sniper._

Thinking of which, they needed to get him over to the Kid workshop as his teenage self to adjust the vest and other gear.

At least he was a crack shot, even with a gun as unusual as Kid's card-shooter.

Kaito let his shoulders heave in an exaggerated sigh, feeling Tantei-kun's eyes on him. He dropped his hands and raised his head so Shinichi could read his lips, 'Fine, Tantei-kun, I get it. Just… don't die, okay?'

"Haibara always says that, but she wouldn't give me the temps if she really thought they'd kill me," he pointed out, "I'll be fine. I always am."

That was… less encouraging than Tantei-kun probably wanted it to be. Still, it was probably the best Kaito was going to get. 'Finish the arrangements, then, and we can get back to planning and write out a note.'

Shinichi nodded and pulled out his phone.

_xxxx_

Three days after that, Kaito was going through an experience that relegated Tantei-kun's passing out in the first-grade teacher's arms to second in his list of personal terrors and even that thought was only a passing glimmer in the back of his mind.

Tantei-kun was _screaming._

Kudo Shinichi didn't give much thought to pain, from what Kaito had observed. From what the kids had said that first morning, he'd not given voice to his pain after having been _shot_, and even the migraine had only brought a brief mention of the hurt.

It was horrible, _terrifying_, and Kaito felt sick as he tried to steady the growing body cradled in his arms, feeling heat radiating from Shinichi that was so strong he wouldn't have been surprised to see his own hands blister.

Was _this_ what Shinichi had gone through every time he'd shown up full-sized?

If Kaito had realized just how bad it was, he'd have refused the heist idea. Even if he couldn't have stopped Shinichi from testing the pill, he wouldn't have set up anything physically taxing for the detective afterwards, no matter that they still had nearly a day before the heist.

And all those thoughts were panicked flutters in his mind as he tried desperately to keep himself from breaking down—and the screams lessened, tapered into rough gasps as a full-sized Shinichi panted in Kaito's grip, the sheet they'd wrapped around him soaked through with sweat and his eyes glassy with feverish hurt.

'Shinichi?' he asked, not sure if the detective could understand him after that—surely his eyes weren't focusing quite right and his thoughts might well be scattered by pain.

"M'okay," Shinichi managed, closing his eyes. "Thirsty."

Well. That made sense, so Kaito eased the detective back against the bed, ignoring the not-little-girl making her way into the room with a medical kit that was significantly more advanced than something you'd see for first aid.

Obviously, that mini-scientist was just plain _scary._

Ten minutes and two glasses of water later, Shinichi was much more his usual self, if still swaddled in a bedsheet and being prodded at by a scientist.

Relieved by Shinichi's rapidly improving health, Kaito flopped down to sit on the bed and wrapped his arms around Shinichi's shoulders, 'You don't get to scare me like that anymore. I don't like it.'

"I told you I'd be fine," Shinichi pointed out quietly, "I always am. Haibara can be a little creepy sometimes, but she doesn't want me to die. She's _careful_ about this."

The mini scientist referenced poked Shinichi a little harder than was strictly necessary for that one, scowling at him irritably.

Shinichi shrugged at her unrepentantly, "What? You _are._"

Kaito huffed a laugh, suddenly seeing why Shinichi trusted the former Syndicate member (and hadn't _that_ been a surprise). Her expression and stance were cool and distant, uncaring even, but her eyes glittered with fondness and a bit of relief. Kaito knew masks well enough to see through the one she wore, and what he saw beneath was reason enough to trust.

Of course Shinichi would have seen it, too. He could see _Kaito,_ after all—seeing beyond masks of any kind would be nothing.

No wonder the detective had always been able to pick him out in disguise.

"_Anyway,_ Kudo-kun," Haibara said pointedly, causing Kaito to redirect his attention to her again, "I need you to be careful. You seem to be fine, so I'll say you're free to go, but _do not be seen as yourself._ You have two days before I want you back here for a checkup and we'll negotiate further time out of the house after we see how you're doing."

Shinichi nodded, a bit reluctant in his acceptance, and the chemist turned towards Kaito, probably judging from the dip in the mattress beside the detective, as her gaze ended up aiming somewhere past his shoulder, "Kid-san, please ensure he is back here in forty-eight hours. Fifty on the outside, and, if at all possible, keep him away from murders, kidnappings, thefts aside from your heist, fraud cases, or anything else that will involve him revealing himself to the police and thus ending up in official paperwork that certain undesirable elements could use to verify that he's alive."

Kaito saluted her, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see it, then huffed and pulled out Shinichi's phone to poke through until he found her contact information so he could send an appropriately cheeky text.

He'd keep Tantei-kun safe no matter his size so long as it was within his power.

So, first things first. Shinichi needed a _disguise_.

Kaito glanced at the detective speculatively, and Shinichi—obviously catching sight of the very Kid expression—leaned away from him, a look that could only be described as 'trepidation' crossing his face.

Kaito grinned.

_xxxx_


	13. Chapter 12

_._

**_Chapter 12_**

Shinichi was not pleased. Not pleased _at all._

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't _surprised,_ either. Of _course_ Kaito would decide to deck him out in his mother's clothes, complete with certain accessories that almost had Shinichi wondering if he'd had another spontaneous shape-change, only this time involving gender rather than size.

Only 'almost', though. He knew how good a cross-dresser Kid was, and he knew they were of similar face and build when he was at his actual-age-size. He honestly wasn't at all surprised that Kid (and Kaito really was in full-on 'Kid' mode) could change Shinichi's appearance as easily—and _completely_—as his own.

At least Kid hadn't given him Yukiko's face. Shinichi didn't think he could handle being disguised as his own _mother._

"You suck, Kaito," Shinichi informed the semi-transparent magician grinning at him from a meter away.

The grin, naturally, only widened. 'No one will recognize you, right, Meitantei?'

"That does not make you suck any less. And what happens if I need to talk?"

'Raise the pitch of your voice and avoid masculine pronouns,' Kaito replied without missing a beat. 'You don't need to work too hard at it—there are plenty of women out there with lower voices, and a few who sound like men.'

Shinichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and tucking a glasses-case with 'Conan's' glasses in it into his pocket. "I can't believe I'm going along with this. Your place?"

Kaito nodded, 'You still have that key I gave you?'

Shinichi nodded back, "What if Nakamori-san or Hakuba ask questions?"

'Aoko… you can just tell her Conan-kun wanted you to see if you could find anything. The key's got Conan's name on it, so it's a viable excuse, especially since you can back yourself up later if you need to. Hakuba…' Kaito sighed, taking off the top hat to run gloved fingers through his hair, 'Tell him Conan sent you to get something I left for you. I _did_ get you a present that was supposed to be for your birthday, but… well, that's not for a few more months and if we need the excuse, we need the excuse.'

Shinichi tilted his head, "You got me a birthday present months in advance?"

Kaito coughed noiselessly, only the gesture of fist-in-front-of-mouth and the light shake of his shoulders giving it away.

Shinichi took that as a slightly embarrassed 'yes' and decided to take pity on the silent magician, "So I'm _not_ the only one who does that kind of thing, then."

Kaito blinked at him, clearly surprised.

"I _might_ have one for you hidden from Ran in my locker at school, and I'm going to trust that you won't sneak a look before I give it to you."

The bright mischief faded to a grumpy sulk, 'Well, now that you've said that I'll _have_ to leave it alone.'

Shinichi smirked at him.

_xxxx_

By the time the heist rolled around Shinichi was fairly confident in his ability to coordinate his very differently-proportioned teenage body without any unfortunate mishaps and completely confident in Kaito's (Kid's, as the case would be, as Shinichi well knew masks and the use of them) ability to keep him uncaught.

All that was left was providing a believable reason for the slightly extended absence…

Hm… Shinichi glanced down at himself, taking note of one scar that—on Conan—had been noticeable since he'd been clipped by a bullet from a military-grade helicopter manned by Gin. As he had found out in a very uncomfortable manner, scar tissue didn't tend to stretch as well as healthy skin and the first time after the cave debacle (all of a few weeks, go figure) his bullet-wound had torn itself open as he'd grown too quickly, only for the rapid cell reproduction to leave it better healed than it had started out when he'd taken the pill, looking like it had healed over a month or so instead of a scant two weeks.

He'd taken to slathering cocoa butter over that scar before taking a pre-planned antidote. It may have been relatively unthreatening, health-wise, but it still hurt.

He'd forgotten about the one on his arm, though, and it was big enough that it had split open (briefly) during the transformation. Kaito had _not_ been happy about the blood when he'd calmed enough to notice it, but a quick glance showed that the old injury once again looked new-healed.

As opposed to the months it had been, and it was clearly a bullet-graze from something very high-caliber, so Shinichi could probably use it in excusing Kid's absence.

He sent a text to Kaito, warning of the possibility, and felt gloved fingers close over his shoulder in reply.

A quick glance showed Kaito's expression as disgruntled, but not refusing. Transparent lips formed a silent 'Just be careful,' and Shinichi gave a short nod.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Shinichi let Kaito provide the theatric effects as he dropped down onto a reinforced glass case, ignoring how it felt to be on the wrong side of the chase, "It's _Showtime._"

_xxxx_

Shinichi was careful—of _course_ he was—but he wasn't up to Kaitou-level acrobatics and Nakamori actually managed to tail him to the roof. And, of course, a sniper's bullet hit him in the back as he turned to face the opening door.

Shinichi stumbled forward three steps with a startled grunt, the vest keeping the bullet from tearing through his heart, but he was pretty sure that he'd cracked at least one rib. If Nakamori got into the sniper's line of sight…

"Keibu! Get back!"

Kaito was a transparent blur darting towards the sniper and Shinichi flung himself forward, bodily shoving the head of the Taskforce back.

A second shot clipped his shoulder and while the vest once again prevented blood from being drawn, the bullet tore the seams of both suit and blue shirt and Shinichi twisted sharply to force Nakamori not just back but _down,_ covering the man with his own body and hoping the Kevlar would protect him while Kaito did—whatever it was he was going to do.

The movement caused the damaged seams to tear further, flapping in a way that would hamper movement and Shinichi tore both the sleeves off that arm, tucking them into one of the many hidden pockets and noting with dark amusement that the action conveniently left his latest bullet-graze directly in Nakamori's line of sight.

The man froze, eyes wide as he stared at Shinichi's arm before raising his eyes to look at Shinichi's face and paling when the false Kid grunted, body jerking as a third bullet hit him in the back.

Shinichi let himself fall forward, his weight pressing Nakamori to the ground, and a startled shout told him Kaito had gotten to the sniper, which meant there would be no more flying bullets.

Shinichi rolled sideways, breaking Nakamori's hesitant grip on his shoulders, and came up in a defensive crouch, scanning for—there. A flicker of white with a darker shape beside him, and Shinichi took a running dive off the rooftop in that direction, deploying the glider to drop down onto the slightly lower adjacent building before heading off again, flight unsteady from a combination of unfamiliarity with the glider and the fact that the back of his ribcage was really not comfortable.

Nakamori would find the sniper, gassed and bound, and Kaito was on Shinichi's left side, just below, using his own transparent glider and periodically glancing up to evaluate Shinichi's wavering glide.

Shinichi followed when Kaito led him to the ground, then slumped back against a building when Kaito promptly speed-changed him into the female disguise that he'd used earlier before checking him over.

"Nothing too bad," Shinichi murmured as he felt Kaito's fingers checking his back, "Maybe a cracked rib or two, but…"

The searching fingers paused, pressing harder for a moment, then retreated as Kaito moved back in front of him, wearing an unhappy frown.

"They'll find the sniper," Shinichi pointed out, "Nakamori isn't stupid. He knew we were being shot at and the fact that I landed on that roof is enough to have him checking it as quickly as possible."

Kaito nodded once, hesitated, and opened his mouth in a silent apology.

Shinichi huffed at him, "I knew about the snipers," he pointed out, "and the vest did its job. I'm fine—hairline fracture at most. Reverting will probably heal that, anyway. It's _okay_, Kaito. We even got an assassin off the streets."

Finally, reluctantly, Kaito relaxed somewhat. 'I don't want you to get hurt because of me.'

Shinichi thought of his own situation and how much he feared for the safety of everyone he knew and his lips curved in something that was more a wry grimace than a smile, "Believe me, I know the feeling."

_xxxx_

The arrest made the news the morning after the heist, news headlines declaring "Sniper Arrested at Kid Heist!" and "Attempted Assassination of Kaitou Kid!"

**" **"The sniper started shooting as soon as Kid got to the roof," Nakamori-keibu, head of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce here in Tokyo reported. "When I opened the door, he started aiming for me, too. Kid pushed me out of the way and covered me with his own body. Three of the bullets that were shot from the adjacent roof are missing; there were four casings and we only recovered one bullet. When he used his glider, Kid was very unsteady. I think he may have been shot."

The sniper himself appeared to be delusional, according to what a Division One officer informed this reporter. "He kept saying that Kid must have found 'it' because he [Kaitou Kid] was immortal."

Apparently, the sniper, whose name has not been discovered and claimed to be called 'Snake'; insisted that he has shot Kaitou Kid multiple times, several of which were in the heart. As Kid has not yet returned the jewel taken last night, we can only hope that the sniper did not succeed in his latest assassination attempt, although his presence and claims may explain why Kid had not held a heist in over three months.**"**

Shinichi stopped reading, tossing his phone aside. "The Org. isn't going to like this. They usually kill members that look like they're going to get caught, and Snake said too much. They'll try to get an assassin in after him."

Kaito jerked his head up, 'What? Do you think they'll be able to? He's not allowed visitors!'

Shinichi blinked, frowned, and shook his head. He hadn't been paying enough attention, would not have been able to _see_ what Kaito was trying to say, and it wasn't like he'd _heard,_ really, either.

Not with his ears, anyway. It was more like… like _remembering_ something that had been said, only it wasn't. "Say something else," he demanded, deliberately averting his eyes.

'Like what?' Kaito grumbled, incredulous. 'You're not even _looking!_' a slight pause… 'You're not looking. You're not—can you _hear_ me? _I_ can't hear me!"

"Not… 'hear', exactly," Shinichi turned his gaze back to the still-transparent form of his white-clad friend. "But… I know what you're saying. I can _almost_ hear something, but it's more like the words just appear in my head."

'You can _hear_ me," Kaito stared at him, translucent eyes over-bright with too many emotions. '_Tantei-kun_…'

Shinichi actually welcomed the hug, feeling phantom wetness on his neck from tears that didn't dampen his fingertips.

'I thought no one would ever hear me again,' Kaito managed, thick and rough. 'I thought…'

Shinichi tightened his hold, "I know," he murmured back, "I know."

_xxxx_


	14. Chapter 13

_._

**_Chapter 13_**

Another day, and Kaito learned something else he'd never wanted to know. Watching Shinichi shrink back into Conan was even worse than watching him grow, for all that Shinichi's creepy mini-scientist assured him that it was relatively less dangerous.

… it seemed to hurt him _more_. Probably because a human body was meant to grow, if not so quickly, but it really wasn't supposed to shrink like that, like he was _literally_ boiling away, a sickly sour steam rising from a body that seemed to collapse in on itself.

When it was over, Conan managed to hold on to consciousness—which honestly surprised Kaito—and Haibara forced some water into him and drew blood to test as he looked around the room restlessly.

It took the phantom thief a moment to figure out what the detective was looking for.

'I'm here,' he said—thought he said, because he couldn't hear his own words even though he knew what they _should_ sound like—and moved into his tantei's line-of-sight.

Conan relaxed a bit, eyes drooping, and Kaito knew he'd guessed right. 'Get some sleep, Tantei-kun,' he murmured (silent to himself, but less silent to Tantei-kun, considering the quiet huff and attempt to burrow further into supporting pillows).

"M'kay," he managed to get out around a yawn and the mini-scientist reinforced Kaito's not-quite-order with her own instruction to rest.

Kaito sighed, dropping down into a cushy armchair not far from the bed Tantei-kun had been ensconced in, 'Let's not do this again, Tantei-kun. You've thrown all of Japan onto a different trail, and it's not worth you getting killed to further it. Nakamori will just assume Kid died of wounds from this last heist if there are no more.'

Tired eyes flicked in his direction, not quite focusing—considering Tantei-kun's usual intensity, that was pretty telling—and he tilted his head at the confusion.

"Aren't you still looking for something?"

Ah. He'd never said exactly what, not to Shinichi in any of his forms, but his favorite detective was _far_ from stupid. 'You don't need to worry about it. I can find it on my own.'

He got a frown for that, but he cut off the protest before it could form, 'Not now, Tantei-kun. _Sleep._ We'll talk later.'

The frown deepened into a scowl, but Shinichi didn't argue, obviously too tired to bother and fully intending to hold Kaito to the 'later'.

Kaito let out a tired breath of his own, leaning back into the soft cushions of the armchair and debating the merits of napping in said chair.

Shinichi huffed at him and scooted to the far side of the bed, re-extending an invitation that he'd offered semi-regularly since Kaito had ended up haunting him.

Kaito huffed back, more amused than exasperated, and relocated himself to the side of the bed, stealing the throw-pillow from the armchair to use as his own since there was only one pillow on Shinichi's scientist-assigned bed.

They'd talk later. For now, they both needed some sleep.

_xxxx_

Conan's phone buzzing woke Kaito, but the detective didn't do more than twitch a bit and burrow deeper into his pillow.

Kaito shrugged and picked up the phone, opening the text—from Hakuba, at that.

'There was a heist'.

Nothing else, just the simple statement that managed to convey how very confused a certain blond detective was, possibly with added unease. Kaito texted back, using 'his' phone so that the text would appear to have come from nowhere in Hakuba's inbox. 'If you mean a Kid Heist, I've told you many times that Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou Kid are not the same person. I don't know why it's taken you so long to get to this point.'

Several minutes passed before Conan's phone buzzed again, and Kaito read the new text with a slightly raised eyebrow, because _really_, Hakuba?

'I'm with Conan, obviously. He's a little under the weather, so he's sleeping right now, and I took the phone so it wouldn't wake him. Also, why do you _think_ you can't reply to my texts directly? How do you even think I'm sending them?'

Nothing untrue, in either text, though the first was a 'point of view' thing. Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou Kid _weren't_ the same person, but which was real and which was a mask… the ends had blurred for Kaito just as much as he'd seen the differences and sameness between Conan and Shinichi blur.

Question and allow Hakuba to draw his own conclusions; the best way to prevent further investigating on the blond's part.

Another minute, three. Conan's phone buzzed twice in Kaito's hand.

'I hadn't let myself think about it,' was immediately followed by 'I'm sorry.'

Kaito sighed, opening a new text, 'I know.' He sent it, considering what else he knew. Hakuba.. he had to be wondering if his constant accusations had something to do with Kaito's current state of being, wondering and afraid to ask. Afraid that fear might be confirmed, that his insistence had painted a target on a classmate.

Another sigh and Kaito decided to address the fear he'd seen ever since that first day Conan had told Hakuba what was going on, because Hakuba wasn't going to ask if he still hadn't.

'It's not your fault.' No, it was Akako's, through-and-through, but he had no way of _saying_ that. Not that he hadn't tried, but it turned out that the more likely it was for someone to understand a reference he was making in regards to the crazy sorceress, the more whatever she had done forced his words into cryptic twists. Telling Hakuba it wasn't his fault was the most he could do, for now.

Conan's phone didn't buzz again.

Kaito sighed, setting the phone back on the nightstand. He hoped Hakuba had believed him, but he didn't really expect it. Maybe Shinichi could talk some sense into the other detective. He was good at the whole 'logic' thing, and Hakuba took 'Conan' more seriously than anyone else aside from Tantei-han and Takagi-keiji. Even Sato-san hesitated over listening to the apparent child more than Hakuba did.

Well. Nothing more he could do, for now, except make sure Tantei-kun was okay.

He tugged off a glove and reached out, checking the too-small detective's temperature with the back of his hand. Warm, but no longer hot, and Tantei-kun seemed to be sleeping easily enough.

Another sigh, and Kaito settled back onto the bed. As restless as he felt, he still knew he really did need to rest for a while.

_xxxx_

'You about ready, Tantei-kun?' Kaito asked the next morning, glancing around the room that had effectively become Shinichi's in Agasa's home.

"Aa," the detective pulled his backpack on and shrugged to settle it more comfortably, "We can go."

'Mm.' Kaito hummed, still a little thrown by how the mini-meitantei could 'hear' his silence. Although, he supposed it was like how he couldn't hear himself—he knew what it was _supposed_ to sound like, in his head, and he imagined the words or sounds he was trying to make when he used his throat. He couldn't hear himself, but Tantei-kun had said it was like _remembering,_ not hearing.

Which meant it wasn't so different from how Kaito didn't hear himself, as the detective still couldn't hear any direct _sound_ from Kaito. Still… 'You don't sound very enthusiastic.'

"… Honestly… I don't like living with Ran and Occhan. I can never just be _me_."

That… made a horrible kind of sense. 'Then why—' Kaito cut himself off, grimacing. That was intrusive.

"He's a detective," Shinichi stated, "Not a good one, but I can cover that. I need access to cases… and I can't get that on my own. Not as a child."

That also made sense. 'But Division One knows you now—most of the ones across Japan, even. Won't most of them take you seriously even without Mouri-baka, now?'

A half-shake of a head, "It's not just that. People bring private cases to the Agency all the time, now. More of the private cases have brought in possible leads than the police-run ones."

'I see,' Kaito sighed. If things were different, he'd have offered to take 'Conan' in, especially now, after seeing how badly this life wore at the not-child. But an apparent seven-year-old couldn't live on his own, and Kaito was invisible to any but said apparent seven-year-old. It wouldn't work.

"Either way, we should go."

Kaito gave a reluctant nod. Back to the gilded prison, then, in hopes that it might one day buy freedom.

_xxxx_

_Also, I forgot: just to reiterate, there are no set-by-me pairings of a romantic nature in this story. Read what you please into it, but I planned this out under family/friendship._


	15. Chapter 14

_._

_So, make note: This is NOT a happy chapter. There will be follow-up, and I swear this isn't labeled 'tragedy' for an actual, valid reason._

**_Chapter 14_**

It was peaceful, Conan supposed, detouring down the tree-lined park lane with the transparent form of one of the biggest constants in his life beside him. He didn't really want to go back to the Agency right then, and Kaito understood.

The peace was something he'd sorely needed, and he was grateful for it.

'Feeling better?' Kaito asked, a memory of sound.

"Aa," Conan agreed. "It's… nice. I should let Ran know I'll be late, though, so she doesn't worry."

A chuckle like the whisper of a breeze through spring leaves, 'Good idea. That girl can mother with the best of them… and back it up with a mean right hook.'

Conan snickered, pulling out his phone and remembering cracked concrete for foolish words. "You have _no_ idea."

A quick text ('I'll be a bit late back. Nii-san's walking me through the park.') that Ran would probably read all sorts of subtext into, and Conan pocketed the phone again.

'Tantei-kun…'

Conan glanced up at his semi-visible companion, watching as Kaito pulled off the hat and monocle in the way he had begun to when he was being particularly serious.

'I don't want you to do that again. I don't want you to get hurt for me.'

For a moment, Shinichi let 'Conan' slip away, even though they were still in public and to any watchers, he would look alone. He understood that all too well, and if his aid would truly only cause Kaito distress… "Wakari mashi ta."

A short, relieved smile that melted back into distress, if of a slightly different kind. 'Can you talk to Hakuba for me? I think… I think he thinks this is his fault.'

He understood what Kaito wasn't saying and his attention sharpened, "It wasn't. Not even possibly?" only half question.

Kaito confirmed with a short nod, 'Nothing he said or did.'

"Not _them,_ then? Not…"

'Our mutual problem? No.'

"But if I try to ask, you'll go back to riddling."

A grimace and a nod, 'The closer you are to understanding, the less my words make sense.'

Footsteps and laughter up the path, and Shinichi slid back to Conan. "Well, that's annoying. At least you can say 'not'."

'There is that,' Kaito agreed, slipping aside as two small children darted ahead of indulgent parents who spared a concerned look at Conan for his apparent lack of escort.

Conan deflected the concern easily, assuring that his guardian wasn't far, and waited until the footsteps faded far enough that child-shrieks would cover his voice. "I just wish…"

'You've helped me more than I would have thought possible,' Kaito assured. '… this isn't your fault, either.'

"I know," Conan sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I know, but… I _want_ to be able to do more. Make this right somehow."

'Get Hakuba to stop wondering if he indirectly killed me and we'll call it even.'

Conan snorted. Leave it to Kaito to manage to lighten the mood with something that had no business being even the slightest bit funny. "I'll do my best."

He barely caught the last comment, as though Kaito wasn't even trying to say it aloud.

'You always do.'

_xxxx_

Conan tried not to smile as Kaito prodded him into a café after the park-detour, citing 'comfort drinks' and insisting that Conan order him one, too. Conan had begun to be able to spin a tale with the best of them, and managed to order a black coffee and a hot chocolate to go and leave the barista behind the counter thinking he was getting the drinks for himself and his 'nii-san'.

Which he was, but not in the sense she probably thought, as said 'nii-san' was hovering at his shoulder, unseen and being very careful to remain untouched.

She probably also thought the coffee was for the 'nii-san' and the hot chocolate for him, and he wasn't going to correct either assumption.

A few minutes later, Conan slipped into an ally another two streets down, noted that he was sill visible from the street and there was a fair amount of pedestrian traffic, and made his way further back, towards the apartment complex another few streets over. There was a small side-building there that had been under construction up until something had happened in the complex proper that had required funds to be diverted and had thus never been finished—it would give sufficient visual cover for him to hand over Kaito's cup.

He didn't pay any mind to the clatter-thump inside what was supposed to be an off-limits abandoned site, as kids tended to use places like that as hang-outs and he knew it.

He should have, but he realized that too late. An instant after he handed Kaito the cup of lightly disguised sugar, the door beside him burst open and a half-panicked older teen rushed out.

It shouldn't have been a big deal. Get bowled over, get back up, have Kaito huff and fuss, move on.

It wasn't so benign, because there was an open switchblade in the teen's hand.

A panicked shout, a sense of _impact_ and Conan hit the ground with a sharp grunt, half-dazed and not quite sure what had happened, a stranger staring down at him with wide, wide eyes, and dropping a bloody knife—a blur of white, and the strange teen was tossed aside, hitting the ground in an unconscious sprawl.

Kaito kneeling, frantic see-through fingers scrambling to tear cloth aside.

Conan realized he'd been stabbed. Not even on purpose, and to think that something like this would even happen…

He couldn't even feel the injury, just the harsh press of Kaito's hands, and suddenly Kaito's voice was clearer than it had been since he'd turned up in Shinichi's home, ghostlike and terrified.

"Tantei-kun! _Tantei-kun!_ Damn it, Shinichi, don't you _dare—_"

The world seemed hazy, he realized distantly, colors washing into shades of grey. Only Kaito seemed solid and real. Shinichi dropped his attempts to hold on to Conan's façade, because that must mean he was dying.

So _stupid,_ to die like this. Some scared teen who may or may not have killed someone else in a half-built annex (probably _had_, because why else would Shinichi have happened to be there at that exact moment?). Not the Org, not someone he had cornered into confession or even an antidote that failed.

Stabbed by accident by a scared teen.

He wondered if he'd stay like Kaito had, or if Kaito would be left alone. He didn't want Kaito to be left alone.

He didn't want Kaito to blame himself, either, and he opened his mouth to _say_ so, but he could only gasp and cough, blood-tang on his tongue.

"Shinichi! Oh, gods, _please_, **_Shinichi!_**"

_xxxx_


	16. Chapter 15

.

**_Chapter 15_**

Panic choked Kaito's thoughts as he stared down at the bleeding child-sized body under his hands, trying desperately to stem the hot flow. All he could see was _redredred _staining white gloves and arms that didn't look hazy at all against bright crimson. Heart's blood, too fast, and he couldn't _do_ anything—

But he couldn't see through his own hands, and maybe it was just an illusion, and maybe Shinichi was dying and that link to the world was fading until he was only seeing the part beyond, but he had to _try._

He grabbed Conan's phone and dialed one-handed, flipping it on speaker so he'd be able to keep _both_ hands on the bleeding wound (and why, why, _why_ had that teen pulled the knife _back?_*)

Ambulance, police, that order.

_Please._

_xxxx_

They'd heard him. They'd _heard_ him. He'd given his name and speed-changed (because they might see him, too) while keeping as constant a pressure on Shinichi's injury as he could, let himself sound just as dazed and panicky as he felt, and prayed to any god that would listen that somehow, some_way_, Tantei-kun would pull through this.

He could worry about everything else later. (Hakuba would be an interesting field, and the Mouris, but only if Shinichi _lived._)

_xxxx_

One day, two, three. Kaito was… he was seen and heard and had been _sorely_ missed, but he was nothing if not an adept actor and he had the doctors restricting visitors and while Nakamori-keibu had been permitted to see him, he had only stared at the man with blank eyes and stayed silent and still.

He panicked if he wasn't able to see 'Conan' (he just didn't bother to hide it) and remained calm so long as Conan was within his sight, if worried.

Nakamori had left after a while, chased out by a nurse when the machine hooked to Kaito shrilled as his heart-rate went up too high in a new panic that was only half purposeful. All he had to do to freak himself out was think of Tantei-kun, smiling and handing him a cup one instant only to be bleeding out on the ground the next, so _fast._ He'd wanted Nakamori to leave, because he couldn't come up with anything to say until he'd spoken to Tantei-kun, presuming Tantei-kun woke up.

Mouri-baka and Mouri-san had come by more than once, concern growing with each visit as Tantei-kun didn't wake and his invisible 'Kai-nii-san' showed no sign of being near. The word 'coma' had been spoken in Kaito's hearing and he could only sit and watch and wait, praying to anything that might listen for the closest thing he'd had to family in _years_ (an absentee mother barely counted and the Nakamoris and Jii were more friends than family for all that he'd liked to think of them as such) would be _okay._

_xxxx_

Five days, then six. On the morning of the seventh, tiny hours of the morning while even most of the hospital was silent, and the EEG hooked to 'Edogawa Conan' marked a difference in pattern, the heart monitor's beep changing pace.

Kaito woke to the slight change, jerking upright to see what had disturbed his light doze, and saw Tantei-kun stir.

Heart pounding in something like hope, something like fear, he moved to the smaller boy's bedside, not noticing as his own heart monitor's alarm light flashed as it transmitted his jump in heart-rate to the nurse's station down the hall.

Tantei-kun was _waking up._ And as much as Kaito wanted to think that meant he was okay, he knew all too well that the long period of not enough oxygen to his brain meant Tantei-kun could be hurt in a way that terrified him to think.

Blue eyes blinked open, staring upwards hazily, and Kaito's breath caught. Please, _please—_

A small frown furrowed Shinichi's brow as his gaze drifted restlessly, slowly growing clearer. His eyes landed on Kaito and he blinked once, twice. Opened his mouth—and coughed on whatever he tried to ask, throat too dry for words.

The resulting put-out scowl was the best indicator of intact mental ability that Kaito could have asked for, then Conan (mask reasserted as Tantei-kun recognized 'hospital') mouthed a question.

Kaito dropped as his knees buckled with the sheer force of his relief, catching himself on the edge of Conan's hospital bed as he choked on a hysterical laugh, "You're awake, you're _okay_—"

The door suddenly admitted two nurses, one carrying medication (probably a sedative, but Kaito didn't care_,_ because Tantei-kun was _awake._)

Tantei-kun's brow furrowed in confusion as the nurses moved towards Kaito, clearly able to see him, and Kaito mouthed 'I'll explain later'.

The scowl and returned 'You'd better' before Conan managed to draw the nurses' attention to himself—drawing them both up short as they realized the reason for Kaito's heart-rate, already dropping down to a more normal range.

One of them left in a hurry to call Conan's neurologist and the general night-time emergency doctor for the long-term ward.

Tantei-kun was awake and _okay._

Kaito didn't care why he could be seen and heard, didn't care if he was alive or not, because the most important thing in the world had just been given to him when he couldn't steal it no matter how hard he'd tried.

He hadn't spoken to anyone but Tantei-kun and the two people on the other end of emergency calls since whatever Akako had done to him, hadn't said a word in the presence of doctors, nurses, or police, but now he had something to say to whatever had listened to his silent pleas.

_"__Thank you."_

_xxxx_

_*General rule of thumb—large-scale puncture wounds, intentional or otherwise: if there is an object (knife, glass, branch, piece of rock, random chopstick, _whatever_) still in the wound, if at all possible, stabilize it and _leave it there _until paramedics can take over. Diminishes blood loss and can somewhat lower the risk of infection, depending on the cleanliness of the object in question. Either way, less blood loss is always a good thing._


	17. Epilogue

_And now for the last:_

**_Epilogue_**

When the doctors and nurses had _finally_ left the room and Conan's throat was no longer too dry to talk (which happened in the opposite order, but that hardly mattered), Shinichi turned a glare on Kaito. "I thought you were a _ghost_ for the past _four months!_ What the hell, Kaito?" he managed to keep his voice down to a strangled whisper, but even he could hear how freaked-out he sounded.

Kaito coughed into a fist, "Um. To be fair, _I_ thought I was a ghost for the past four months, too."

Okay, yes, Shinichi had already guessed that. "What happened?"

"So there's this witch in my class who… uh, well, let's just say she and I don't get along. Anyway, she caught me with some sort of glowing circle thing and I woke up see-through and inaudible, even to myself. I thought she'd killed me."

Shinichi started to raise his arm to rub his forehead and had to abort the movement with a hiss when his chest informed him that was a _bad_ idea. "A witch," he managed as Kaito hovered in a sort of helpless worry, using a lack of acknowledging his own discomfort as a method of reassurance.

It seemed to work, as Kaito only gave a wincing half-shrug, "I know you don't believe in magic—"

Shinichi cut him off with a wry huff. "I am currently about ten years younger than I should be and spent the last four months being tailed by an effective _ghost_. I'm starting to lose my disbelief in the supernatural."

"Right. Okay. Anyway, I'm not sure exactly what she did to me. I mean, I got hungry, but not often and I got tired… but not as tired as I _should_ have, and I was literally wearing the same outfit for four months solid and came out the other end no worse for it, really. And…" he trailed off, grimacing.

Shinichi frowned at the sudden tensing of Kaito's shoulders. "… and?" he prompted.

"I—it changed when… _Gods,_ Tantei-kun, you were bleeding out all over me and suddenly I was _real_ again. She'd said something about you, once, outside the clock tower three years ago. That you had a clear presence and eyes that pierced through all deception, or something to that effect. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but… I thought you were going to die. I thought I was going to have to hold you while you _died_ and I wouldn't be able to do _anything_. I thought… but I was real again, so I called 119 and… you flat-lined _twice_ in the ambulance and you were in a _coma_ for _six days._ I thought…"

"Kaito," Shinichi said, quiet and firm, cutting off the babble. One second, then two, and Kaito folded forward in the chair until he was half supported by Conan's bed, hands reaching to grasp at Shinichi's own, breath stuttering in repressed hysteria.

"I'm here," Shinichi murmured, squeezing bare fingers (it felt strange, to feel skin where he had grown used to suede, to see hospital blue instead of Kid-white) "I'm okay, Kaito. I'm okay, and _you're_ okay, too."

Sorting out cover stories could wait a little longer. For now, Shinichi just wanted to cling to the fact that Kaito _was_ okay.

He let out his own shuddering breath. Kaito was _alive._ Everything else was just details.

_xxxx_

'Just details' included giving a believable story to the police, the Mouris, and Hakuba.

The police were easy; Conan and Kaito had worked out a tale that didn't contain any outright lies and still managed to imply the Black Org as kidnappers with the intent of turning Kaito into an assassin with unusual skills; a direct counter to Kaitou Kid. The Mouris were less easy, but eventually Conan offered up the idea of having Kaito be 'possessed', Conan's 'brother' having merged into Kaito himself while trying to direct the teen to save Conan, and both Kogoro and Ran ended up believing it after watching their interactions—not quite how they'd acted around each other before the whole mess, but not quite how Conan had acted towards 'Kai-nii', either. (Neither knew that was mostly deliberate, a way to reinforce the fiction.)

Hakuba was the only one who got something like the actual truth.

In the end, Hakuba accepted that Conan and Kaito genuinely didn't _know_ what had caused either the ghostliness or the sudden step back into reality, though Kaito had added in Akako's name and _that_ had gotten him to almost forgive them the accidental untruth on the spot.

Conan had been confused when Hakuba muttered something about a squirrel and backed off.

After that, Kaito had addressed something that Conan… hadn't expected.

"Hey, Tantei-kun…" Kaito waited until Conan looked over at him from where he'd been staring out the window at the tree-crown barely in view over the third-story windowsill of their hospital room. "Do you want to come live with me?"

For an instant, Conan froze, not quite believing what he'd just heard. Did he want—_could_ he? It's not like he was getting anywhere with Kogoro, after all, and if he wasn't there the man would stop stumbling over cases. People didn't tend to bring murders to him, after all, it was mostly adultery and such that (considering the curse Conan seemed to be under) often ended in murder, but that wasn't likely to continue if he left.

No one had brought Black Org. related cases, and Conan was beginning to see why. They didn't leave anything suspicious behind for people to question when they were involved, unless someone (like a mini Shinichi) stirred up enough trouble to bring out the big guns, and even then the police investigations were quashed _from the inside._

Practically speaking, his original reason for staying with Ran and her father had been rendered moot. From a less logical standpoint, staying with them was… _wearing_ at him. He almost never had a chance to just relax and be himself, and that was something Kaito was offering.

"Gods, _yes_."

_xxxx_

It was several weeks before Conan was allowed out of the hospital, though Kaito had been released sooner. During those weeks, Shinichi had gotten ahold of his parents and 'Conan's' mother had arraigned things for him with the Mouris and various legalities, which meant Conan was picked up by Kaito and taken to Ekoda.

They'd managed to get him 'home-schooled', though the work was sent in to a local elementary for grading (which meant he could do it all at once and move on to more interesting things), which was harder than it sounded because Japan had a pretty big emphasis on public (or at least _classroom)_ schooling. Shinichi still didn't know how his mother had managed that, but she'd done the same for Shinichi's proper schooling so he could get caught up with his actual age-level and maybe, just maybe, graduate as himself if Haibara managed the antidote in time.

Things were _finally_ a little easier, with someone who understood.

**_xxxx_**

Kouzumi Akako mused over the oddness that was her returned classmate, wondering how he'd broken her spell. Oh, it hadn't worked as intended—they never did, with him. As per usual, he'd thrown off the mental aspects of the magic without even having seemed to realize they were there.

Also as per usual, the physical aspects had caught him just fine. Like with the voodoo doll, he had no instinctive defense against that magic of hers that effected his physical self, and the spell—originating in Ancient Greece, though the words could be in any language (thus the mixing, she hadn't wanted the magician to know exactly what she had done because he would have found it easier to break the spell)—had altered his body to something that wasn't quite a ghost.

The tale of Eros and Pasiphae had mentioned those so ensorcelled; the perfect servants. Invisible, inaudible, requiring very little in the way of food or sleep, completely incapable of growing dirty in any way (to waste resources on a slave was an inconvenience, after all) and unfailingly obedient to their masters.

She hadn't truly expected Kuroba to be obedient to her, but had rather assumed that removing him from the world by a half-step would render him all but helpless. Sooner or later, he would die, alone and unnoticed.

Clearly, that had not worked out as she had expected, and now she had him seeing her as an actual threat. That was dangerous.

He knew how her power worked, how it could be broken at the source. That he had almost gotten her to cry without even trying… if he took it upon himself to draw tears from her, she had no doubt he _could_. Then her power would vanish, and she would be no more than an ordinary girl.

… Perhaps she should no longer antagonize him. He was more resourceful than she had once believed, and to have him treat her as an _enemy…_

No. That was not a good idea. She would let him be, at least for a while.

_xxxx_

_I'm sorry to see this one over, but I think it's best I end it where I'd planned. So, here we are, at the last of __No Ghosts Need Apply.__ Thanks for sticking it out, dear readers, and perhaps I'll see you along other tales. For now, though, I'm going back to only having __Lucid Dreams__ to work on, but that one has no end in immediate sight._

_This whole thing was spawned by a prompt from the lovely Gallery13. The prompt in question was basically "I thought you were a ghost for the past four months" and "In what situation would Shinichi say that to Kaito?"_

_Also, for those who are interested, I have a linked-in one-shot 'series' that will be posted as scenes occur to me under the story-title "A Day in the Life". Chapters will be standalone and with individual titles as well as not reliably chronologically ordered._


End file.
